Ever, the Now
by Lady Ayuka
Summary: Naruto would very much like to argue that time travel isn't something that anyone would expect, even from an unknown seal activated by a desperate missing-nin in the middle of the ruins of Uzushio. Team 7 Time Travel AU.
1. Chapter 1

_"It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now." ~_ George Harrison

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* * *

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It wasn't even supposed to be a difficult mission, which was the _entire point._

Tsunade had honestly been waiting for it when the four members of the original Team 7 filed into her office, the expressions on their faces ranging from fond exasperation to almost pleading, and she barely managed to hold in her sigh and not rub at her temples.

It wasn't a surprise, given the fact that in little over a week Hatake Kakashi would be officially named Konoha's new Hokage, a position that he was only very, _very_ grudgingly accepting, and only because he'd been thoroughly guilt-tripped and blackmailed into it. Which definitely wasn't the kind of reaction Tsunade had been thinking of when naming her successor, back when she'd accepted the position herself. Of course, she'd been expecting to hand the hat off to a sunshine blond with a bright smile who'd been dreaming of obtaining it his entire life, not a recalcitrant, socially-awkward and emotionally-stunted pervert, but, well...

She didn't really have the room to be choosey at the moment. She'd been able to keep hold of the title for over a year now, but she'd begun to wear incredibly thin. The war took a lot out of her and she was feeling her age more now than she ever had before. And while she could handle the paperwork, could handle handing out missions and giving orders, she wasn't in any position to defend her village anymore, not like she was supposed to. A Kage was meant to be their village's best defense, the strongest and most capable of defending their people, and right now, that wasn't Tsunade.

And as much as she would absolutely _love_ to pass the hat onto Naruto that very moment, he just wasn't ready for it. He was getting there, now that his time wasn't being devoured by trying to drag his teammate back while also fighting against S-ranked terrorist organizations and participating in a war that spanned over the entire Elemental Nations, but he wasn't quite there yet. And he knew it just as well as she did.

She'd even asked him, during a quick lunch one day when he'd stopped by to drop off his latest mission report, if he was upset that she hadn't nominated him for consideration. If she had, it likely would have gone uncontested. He, along with his teammates, were the saviors of the Fourth War, the ones who had faced off against Madara and Kaguya back to back and somehow come out on top. Not only that, but he was on speaking terms with multiple Kage and other high ranking shinobi across the nations. He was their village's darling, loved by everyone, and not a single person would have complained if she'd selected him.

He hadn't been upset, though, had understood completely. He was strong, stronger than most, but that wasn't all that made someone a Kage. And he'd learned firsthand during the war that just because he was powerful didn't mean he was ready for that kind of responsibility. He would be, eventually, would work hard for it like he always had until he reached that goal, but it was okay if it took a bit longer. He'd never been one to shy away from hard work before, after all, and he wasn't ever going to give up.

Which had really only left Tsunade with a single option: Kakashi. He seemed to have realized this just as soon as she had, and then had disappeared for a week. (She suspected a henge was involved, though she couldn't be entirely certain seeing as how he'd never revealed his face to anyone before, because he definitely hadn't left the village.) After he'd finally been dragged back into her office by a very haggard and unimpressed Sakura, he'd commenced listing every reason for why it was a terrible idea while throwing out other candidates that she should consider.

All of which was a complete waste of time, of course, since she'd already thought through all of her options carefully. Something she knew he was aware of, and that he was just desperately attempting to hold off the inevitable.

Finally, though, he'd been forced to admit defeat, though it took another week of prodding. He was clearly unhappy, and proceeded to spend the majority of his time sulking, but he was also loyal to his village above everything else and knew just how important this was. He'd do it, but he'd drag his feet about it the entire way.

Which brought them to now.

She knew what Kakashi was going to ask for before he even slouched forward to stand before her desk.

Each of them had been busy since the end of the war. Sakura had dived head-first into the hospital, when she wasn't working on groundbreaking limb prosthetic designs with the help of several from the R&D department, whipping it into shape in such a way that definitely made Tsunade proud and that had even veteran medic-nin giving the girl their utmost respect. Sasuke had had to be thoroughly vetted, after his betrayal of the village and then subsequent spiral into insanity, and then he'd been put on probation before swiftly being absconded into ANBU once his loyalty had been established once more. Naruto had been bouncing between departments, taking the time to familiarize himself with each, even if he had no hope of contributing to their efforts, while also shadowing Tsunade from time to time and taking missions whenever he could. Kakashi himself had been stuck filling out paperwork and preparing for his upcoming promotion to leader of a Hidden Village.

And so this was Kakashi coming to beg, in his own way, for one last taste of freedom before he became shackled to the very desk she was now sitting at and, through that, to paperwork and responsibility. All he wanted was one last hurrah as Team 7 before they lost their chance.

And Tsunade hadn't minded, not really. She'd been planning on sending Naruto out on a mission anyway, to deal with a couple of missing-nin that had apparently been foolish enough to use the ruins of Uzushio as their base, both because the blond was technically the Head of the Uzumaki clan, for all that there were only two known members currently living, and that he'd been studying fuuinjutsu for the last few months and, besides herself and Hatake, was the closest thing to a Seal Master that they had.

Reports had claimed that the missing-nin consisted of mostly chunin, with only a jounin or two thrown in the mix, and so she'd been planning to send Naruto alone. But if she was going to be sending her successor out on a mission, especially so close to her freedom, then she'd be damned if it was a mission that was anything but pathetically easy, and for four of the strongest shinobi alive, the Heroes of the Fourth Shinobi War, that was exactly what this mission was.

It was supposed to be _easy_. There were supposed to be no complications and it should've taken them only a few days at the longest, most of which was just travel time.

Of course, it was Tsunade's own fault for not remembering that this was _Team 7_ and, with them, no mission stayed simple for long.

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* * *

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Naruto could admit, if only to himself, that he should've seen this coming.

One of the reasons this mission had been handed to him, after all, was that he was one of the rare few who could even hope to avoid any wayward seals laying about the ruins of Uzushio. Because they were everywhere, in almost every line of sight, and he didn't know if the missing-nin had been able to avoid them this long because they had fuuinjutsu training or because they had a lot of dumb luck. He was thinking it was most likely the latter but wasn't about to completely rule out the former.

The information they'd been given was mostly correct, in that the majority of the group consisted of chunin, with two jounin who were clearly the leaders. They'd set up their camp in what looked to have once been a town square and, while they had a guard rotation set up, were all pretty relaxed, clearly thinking they were safe where they were.

Which wasn't an unfair assumption. Not many people, shinobi included, were brave enough to walk into the ruins of Uzushio. The people here had been wiped out because of fear for the power and skill they had, skill which was readily apparent anywhere one looked, and it was never a good idea to not look before you leaped when seals were involved. Because of that, none had ever come here for looting purposes before, the danger far outweighing the payout, at least until now.

And Naruto couldn't deny that it had him fighting against the urge to bare his teeth and snarl a bit. Because, yeah, Konoha was his home and his village and, yeah, he'd never met any of the people who'd died here, wouldn't know any of their names or faces or dreams, but they'd still been his _family_. This place had been his mom's first home. If it hadn't been destroyed the way it had, it could've been a second home to him, too.

And even beyond his own personal ties to the place, he believed quite firmly that the dead deserved to rest in peace. If the Fourth War had taught the world nothing else, it should've at least taught it that.

And so, yes, Naruto was a bit more angry than he usually got on missions now-a-days, a bit more impatient to kick some ass and take some names. And, yes, it may have made him a bit more careless, a bit more likely to revert to bad habits than was safe in a place like this and so, technically, what happens could, possibly, be considered his fault.

He wouldn't ever admit it, though, no matter how much Kurama poked fun at him for it.

The whole thing goes off without a hitch, at first. Naruto keeps an eye on their path, keeps them from triggering any nasty seal traps, and they wait until the sun is sinking low behind them, hopefully limiting their target's visibility and making their approach easier to hide, before launching themselves forward at their opponents.

The first six go down before the rest even really know what's happening. The jounin are the first to react, of course, engaging with Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke respectively while also attempting to shout out orders to the others. They don't really get the chance, though, since they're mowed down fairly quickly while he and Sakura continue to make their way through the rest.

He's not paying as much attention as he should and he knows it, focusing only on taking these nin down and getting them out of these ruins as quickly as he can. And so he doesn't see the young and desperate chunin, the last of them left alive, that launches himself at a seal that's been etched into the ground at the edge of the clearing, only has time to turn as he hears Sakura shout a warning, barely gets a look at the seal itself before the guy is slapping his bloodied hand against it.

He braces himself, expecting it to misfire and explode.

He isn't expecting for the world to twist and warp alarmingly, or for the ground to seemingly give way beneath him.

He isn't expecting what feels like a hook to the gut and to be _yanked_ , mercilessly, and contorted and stretched and pulled in ways he's fairly certain shouldn't be possible.

He isn't expecting Kurama to snarl, to snap, to begin yelling obscenities and threats.

He isn't expecting to feel like he's catching on fire while simultaneously slamming into solid concrete before his world finally, thankfully, goes dark.

He sure as _hell_ isn't expecting time travel but, well, he's pretty sure that nobody ever expects _that_.

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* * *

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 **A/N: Back at it again with the time travel AU's. Who knows, maybe I'll actually get further than 8 chapters with this one lmao**

 **So, I've always loved time travel AU's in general, especially ones from the Naruto universe, and I've been debating with myself for quite some time whether to actually try my hand at one or not. I finally decided to say "screw it" and give it a go, and hopefully it won't turn out too badly.**

 **(I'm so sorry, Time Is On Our Side readers. I swear I'm trying to work up the inspiration for the next chapter. I'll get there eventually. Hopefully.)**

 **A few things I wanted to say, though, is that this is definitely an AU, even more so than the whole time travel concept implies. Basically, I'm ignoring most of what's shown in the final few chapters and beyond, because I don't really agree with it.**

 **These things will be:**

 **1) Most canon pairings. If you ship them, hey, more power to you. I just don't. I won't rag on any of them, I promise, but I also won't be including them. (Except for Asuma and Kurenai, Minato and Kushina, and probably hints of Shikamaru and Temari later on). I'll probably be hinting a lot towards team 7 ot3 (I'm _weak_ , okay?) but I doubt I'll ever actually _explicitly_ make it a thing, unless a lot of you actually want me to. Another pairing I'm weak for is Hinata and Kiba, which I'll probably end up hinting towards a lot without even meaning to, so be aware of that, too. **

**2) Pretty much anything that happens in Boruto. I don't watch/read it at all, so I have no idea what's going on in it and therefore won't be applying it to this fic.**

 **3) Sasuke leaving the village after the war. I know there was a reason for it or whatever but, yeah, no.**

 **4) If I'm being honest, I haven't actually read/watched Naruto since the last chapter of the manga came out. And even then, I wasn't really paying as much attention as I maybe should've been? It's just, the Madara fight and then the Kaguya fight went on _forever_. And it's really hard to keep up your enthusiasm when you're reading something chapter by chapter over such a long period of time. And honestly? I don't have the time or the desire to go back and read through all of it again right now. So, I might end up getting a few things wrong. (Or I might just be changing them because I didn't agree with it in the first place and this is my fic and idgaf). So, yeah, apologies in advance for that and feel free to point it out to me if it really means that much to you. **

**I'm mostly writing this fic for fun, though, and I am in no way going to be taking it completely seriously. (That's not to say that there won't be serious things addressed in this but you get the point). Most of my attention and effort is still going to be focused on TLATSWW, so I can't really guarantee how often this will be updated or if it'll even be all that great, though I will try my best.**

 **But please understand that I'm writing this for _me_ , because _I_ want to, and because this is the story that _I_ want to write. If you end up liking it, too, then hey, that's fantastic! I would absolutely love to hear what you think, what parts you like and even which parts you think I could improve on or that you didn't think were all that great. I'm always ready and willing to listen to constructive criticism and to take some advice, to better myself as a writer. But if you're only staying to tell me how much each chapter sucks and how you think I should do everything different, and are mad because this fic isn't what you want to read even though you're _reading it anyway_ , then please don't waste your time or mine. **

**Well, anyway, if any of you are still here and willing to read on even after all of that, thank you! I really hope I'm able to deliver something that you'll all enjoy!**

 **Please favorite, follow or review and let me know what you think!**


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Naruto does when he regains consciousness is go into his mindscape to confer with Kurama.

Okay, so the _first_ thing he does is completely panic, seeing as how he's currently a _twelve-year-old_. And when he says ' _go into_ ' what he really means is ' _dragged into once Kurama loses his patience_ '.

Same thing, really.

"What the hell is going on?!" He screeched, flailing his arms around. The fox was sitting on the other side of the cavern, chin resting on folded arms and watching Naruto pace back and forth, looking torn between amusement and annoyance. "Why am I sitting in what looks like my old apartment, you know, the one that was _destroyed by Nagato_? Better yet, why do I look like I'm _twelve_?! What even happened?"

"What do you think happened, idiot?" Kurama scoffed. "Obviously, the seal transported your soul, and me along with it, through time and dumped us into your younger self."

"Oh, _obviously_ ," Naruto threw his arms up, tone dripping with sarcasm, "time travel, why didn't I think of that? Surely, it should have been my first guess, seeing as how it's _impossible to do!_ "

"Clearly not, or we wouldn't be in this mess."

"How do you know that's what happened? This could just be a really good genjutsu, you know!"

"You think that hadn't occurred to me, you hairless monkey? Of course it did! One of the first things I did was disrupt your chakra just to be sure!"

Naruto drew in a breath, about to start yelling back once more, before suddenly slumping. It wasn't Kurama's fault, and yelling about it wasn't going to fix anything.

"Time travel, though?" He asked, and couldn't quite keep the despondence out of his voice. "Really?"

It wasn't that he'd never thought about it before, especially once he'd begun learning fuuinjutsu theory. Because as far as sealing was concerned, your imagination was the limit, and Naruto had that in spades. All he needed was the skill and the knowledge to match, and while he hadn't been anywhere near knowing enough to even _start_ on something like that, he was also soaking up lessons like a sponge, something Tsunade-baa-chan had pointed out with a wistful smile and a comment about him living up to his Uzumaki name.

And he'd thought it out, really, _truly_ thought it out, the way he rarely used to do with anything. Because if he could go back in time, he could save _so many people_. Ero-sennin, Neji, Itachi, Konan and Nagato, Asuma-sensei, Jiji, hell, maybe even Obito. He could try to save Sasuke, too, give him more of a reason to stay in the village. If he went back far enough, he could even save Zabuza and Haku, the ones who'd given him so much inspiration to fulfill his dream and to get stronger, to protect those precious to him.

But, at the same time, things had turned out good. Or, at least, as good as they could've, all things considered. They'd defeated Akatsuki, they'd defeated Madara and, after all of that, they'd defeated Kaguya, too. The nations had come together, had fought side by side in a way they'd never done before. Strong alliances had been made and every country was working harder than ever before in actually keeping them.

Maybe he hadn't found the true peace that Jiraiya had talked about, that his father had dreamed about, but he'd gotten pretty damn close and he wasn't about to do anything to put that in jeopardy.

And now, with the activation of one seal, all of that was gone. The deaths, yes, but all the progress, too.

"Yeah, kit," the Kyuubi rumbled out, voice gentle in a way no one would've thought possible even just a year ago, and yet, "time travel. That was what the pulling sensation was, the seal taking hold and yanking you out of your body, through the rivers of time, and dumping you into this one."

"And the feeling like I'd caught on fire?" When silence met his question, Naruto began to get a very bad feeling. "Kurama?"

"That was your soul overwriting the one that originally inhabited this body," the fox admitted reluctantly as Naruto gaped, horrified.

"Are you telling me," he demanded, slowly, "that I basically just killed my younger self?"

"You didn't _kill_ him. More like... absorbed him."

" _That is not helping!_ " Naruto shrieked, hands fisting into his hair desperately.

"I'm not seeing the problem here," the Kyuubi admitted, rolling its massive eyes. "Your younger soul wouldn't have even felt a thing. The only reason _you_ felt anything was because yours was the one doing the absorbing. He's still alive, he's just a part of you now."

The blond groaned, dragging his hands down his face as he despaired, "That's so creepy."

"Whatever, just move on. You're back in time, you're in your younger body, there's nothing you can do about that. What you can do is check up on those teammates of yours. I'm fairly certain all three of them also got caught up in the seal and are also here in this time."

Having said his piece, the fox shut his eyes, clearly done with this entire conversation. He'd gotten a lot better at the whole ' _civil interaction_ ' thing but he was still a centuries-old manifestation of chakra who'd spent the last hundred years locked away behind seals with no one to talk to. It was a work in progress.

Naruto sighed but did as suggested, leaving his mindscape before Kurama could get annoyed and _throw_ him out, which he'd done in the past. And really, he couldn't deny the relief he felt at knowing he wasn't going to be here all by himself. He didn't know what he'd have done if he got stuck with the younger versions of everyone he'd ever known and was the only one alive who remembered the war.

Once he opened his eyes to his old, empty, trashed apartment once more, he immediately folded his legs and sat absolutely still, drawing nature chakra to himself and stretching his senses out as he did. His team's chakra signatures were easy to locate, though each one was located in a different part of the village.

Kakashi-sensei was at their old training ground, likely having been standing by the memorial stone when they'd come back. Sasuke was at the Uchiha compound and Sakura felt like she was at home, the house her family had lived in before it'd been destroyed with the rest of Konoha in Pein's attack. He wasn't all that worried about them, since he was fairly sure they were each smart enough to put the pieces together, even if they didn't have a demon in their gut to spell it out through their denial for them.

Still, it'd make him feel a hell of a lot better to be able to see them, and talk to them, and _know_ without a doubt that they really were his teammates, despite all evidence pointing towards this already being true.

With that thought in mind, and feeling that Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke seemed to already be moving in his direction while Sakura was definitely moving about and would likely be arriving soon enough, Naruto hopped up from his bed, stepping over the hole in the floor covered by open scrolls with the ease of long practice, and headed for his closet to get dressed.

He was met with orange. A _lot_ of orange.

He was still extremely fond of the color and always would be, but even he could admit that maybe he'd been a bit too zealous as a kid, if this was what he'd been wearing day in and day out.

And it wasn't like it had been that long ago that he'd been wearing a similar outfit. Hell, he'd fought the entirety of the Fourth War in his orange and black jumpsuit. It was only bouncing around the other departments the last few months and being sent on a variety of missions he'd never been on before that had taught him that maybe orange wasn't something his outfit should be completely comprised of.

The looks on his teammate's faces, the first time he'd shown up to one of their joint training sessions dressed in a black and blue ensemble only barely edged with dark orange, had been priceless, at least. It had taken almost an hour and a trip to the Yamanaka flower store before they'd been convinced that he was actually still him, which had just made it even funnier.

Now, though, it looked like he was back to eye-searing orange and blue jumpsuits for the time being.

At least it was nostalgic.

The actual wince when Sasuke caught sight of it while climbing through the window he'd opened for them was pretty great, too.

"I really thought I'd never have to see that monstrosity again," the Uchiha lamented with a sigh.

"I don't know," Naruto said, doing his best to keep his face as innocent as possible, "I kinda missed it. I think I'm gonna wear it all the time."

Sasuke's face hadn't even begun to fully contort into true horror when another presence made itself known, "Maa, maa, Naruto, it's not nice to pick on your teammates."

"Yeah," Sakura agreed, just a step behind their sensei, "besides, even if you were serious, we'd burn the things before you got a chance."

"That's really mean," Naruto pouted, but let it go. They had a point.

"So," Kakashi started, hands tucked into his pockets, as Sakura closed the window behind them. A series of hand seals later, courtesy of Sasuke, and not even ANBU had a hope of eavesdropping on this conversation. "Time travel, huh?"

Sakura squinted up at him. "You are way too happy about this."

"I have no idea what you mean," he returned, voice bland, eye curved in what was obviously meant to be an innocent smile.

"Of course he's happy," Sasuke scoffed, "this means he's not becoming Hokage in week."

"I have no idea what you mean," Kakashi repeated, expression unchanging, even though he was all but radiating manic glee.

Sakura rolled her eyes but moved on without further comment. "If the calendar on my wall was correct, and there isn't any reason for it not to be, then tomorrow is team assignment day. Or, well, today."

"That's really far back," Naruto sighed, though he wasn't surprised. He rubbed at his forehead and then flinched upon realizing he was using his right hand.

By the way Sasuke was awkwardly crossing his arms, he wasn't the only one feeling exceedingly uncomfortable by the sudden return of a limb after over a year of getting used to its absence.

"At least we won't have to stack the team or anything. As it is, nothing we do now should change that," Sakura continued, eyes drifting around the room as she was lost in thought. They snapped back to Naruto, sharpening instantly, when he couldn't hold in a snort.

"We would've been assigned the same team anyways," he informed her, plopping down on the solitary chair next to his tiny little kitchen table. "Team 10 and Team 8 were made for info gathering and tracking, and they're both second generation team formations. Which leaves Sasuke and I left over, of the graduates that more or less _had_ to pass their sensei's genin test, which left us together. And Kakashi-sensei would've been assigned to us because he's the only one with a sharingan to teach Teme over here. You're the only one who would've been an unknown, Sakura, since you're not a clan kid, but with your intelligence they would've been stupid not to assign you with us."

Silence met his words and he glanced up to find all three openly gaping at him, even if Sasuke was trying hard not to show it. He couldn't help but scowl.

"What? I've been shadowing baa-chan all year, you really think I haven't learned anything?" He demanded, huffing when at least Sakura had the decency to look sheepish.

"Sorry, Naruto, it's just weird hearing you be so logical when you look like that," she admitted, shrugging, and, okay, he had to give her that one. He'd never admit it out loud, for fear of Sasuke never, ever letting it go, but he'd definitely been a bit of an idiot when he was a kid.

A derisive snort from his mind let him know just how much of an understatement Kurama thought that was.

Rolling his eyes, at both his team and his inner demon, Naruto grumbled, "Can we get back on track? We're in the past, most of us are twelve, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"He has a point," Sasuke admitted, sounding grudging, which, _rude_ , "can we even do anything? My chakra reserves feel about the same as they were in the future, but my body is definitely, ridiculously out of shape."

Every single one of them shared a wince at that, since his body wasn't the only one.

"My reserves feel the same, too," Sakura admitted, holding a hand up and letting it briefly glow green, "and my control seems just as good. But my Strength of A Hundred seal is gone, which is annoying, and my body has hardly any muscle mass. Hardly any mass at all, really, which is just unhealthy."

"Kurama's seal stayed open, thankfully." Naruto didn't even want to think of what would have happened if it hadn't. He would've felt completely awful if that had been the case. "And my reserves have always been huge, so I'm guessing they're the same. If my control didn't come back with me, I might actually cry."

Sad thing was, that wasn't even an exaggeration. He had fought tooth and nail for the control he had and even then, it wasn't all that great. To start back all the way at square one, unable to even walk up a tree, would've been absolute _hell_.

As one, all three of them turned to face their teacher, who'd yet to speak up, only to find him slouched against the wall with his nose buried in his book.

"Really?" Sakura demanded, eye twitching. Sasuke and Naruto, both recognizing the signs of an imminent explosion, carefully edged away from her. "We're over five years in the past and you're reading _porn_?"

"I can multitask," the man informed her blandly, not even looking up as he spoke. "My reserves are the same, though like you three, my body is a bit out of shape. Easy enough to rectify."

"Kaka-sensei," Sakura smiled at him, sweet as could be, and it was at this point that Sasuke and Naruto gave up all pretense and simply plastered themselves to the wall behind her, hopefully out of danger, "we're working together as a team to figure out what happened and to plan out what to do now. As our leader, it's your responsibility to be a part of this discussion, don't you think?"

"Maa, in just a moment, Sakura-chan. I just got to the part where Aiki seduces the -"

Both boys winced as their teacher went crashing through the wall he'd been leaning against, Sakura's fist still raised as she stepped delicately over the rubble in pursuit, and Naruto couldn't help but thank the Sage that all the other tenants in this building had moved out years ago, not wanting to be that close to the fox brat. Otherwise this probably would've caused a lot of awkward questions.

"I take it we won't be lying low and hiding our abilities," Sasuke commented dryly, slowly relaxing as sounds of pain echoed from the other side of the wall. Now that she was taking all her frustrations out on her target, they should be safe so long as they didn't piss her off as well.

Sasuke might have once thought that, as her once-crush, he'd be safe from Sakura's monstrous strength. He'd learned within less than a month that this was very much not the case and that, though she'd forgiven him, she had quite a lot of anger to still work out where he was concerned. Best not to give her a reason to do it.

"Nah," Naruto admitted easily, righting the chair that had fallen from the shockwave and plopping back into it. "I think you and Kaka-sensei would've been the only ones able to pull that off. I'm not really good at hiding, obviously, and Sakura tends to forget herself when she's mad. It would've only been a matter of time before she punted one of us through a wall in front of witnesses."

Sasuke sighed but didn't disagree. No point, since it was true.

"We're all going to be training pretty hard, though, so even if we're not hiding our abilities, we might be able to pass it off without actually admitting to _time travel_ ," Naruto continued, eyes squinted as he thought. "Everyone knows that sensei is a genius, and they all say that you are, too, so it won't surprise them if you get strong quickly. Sakura is thought of as only book smart, but she's always had a natural talent in chakra control. And as for me, well. Iruka-sensei was pretty much the only one who didn't go out of their way to sabotage me when I was younger and after awhile I just decided to do things my own way. With a teacher who's actually teaching me, it's not all that unbelievable that I'd get good pretty quickly."

Naruto trailed off, catching sight of the grimace taking over Sasuke's face, and couldn't help but smile at him. He'd never blamed his teammates for the way he'd grown up, they were just kids themselves and it wasn't their fault, not really. He'd been a little bitter over how Kakashi-sensei had never come forward, given that he was his dad's last living student, but he'd gotten over that fast enough. He might not have been there for his childhood, but the man had been there ever since, and to Naruto, that made up for it.

And even if it didn't, not entirely, it wasn't like there was much to be done about it now. No good would come from being bitter or hateful or from holding a grudge. Best to just move on and be happy that he was in his life now.

"Right now, nobody really knows any of us, anyway," Naruto continued. "Iruka-sensei and Jiji might be a bit confused, but that's about it. None of us have friends, not really, so it's not like any of our classmates can tell the difference. So long as our personalities don't do a complete turnaround, we should be fine."

"That's very true," their sensei agreed as he climbed back through the crater he'd originally been blasted through. He was a lot more scuffed then he'd been before and was walking with a bit of a limp, and his book was noticeably absent, but otherwise he looked fine. Sakura, stepping through behind him, looked smugly satisfied. "You should be fine, Sasuke, as you tend to lean more towards complete social avoidance, still, if it's not the members of Team 7 that you're interacting with."

The badly hidden " _hypocrite_ " that Naruto coughed into his fist went ignored.

"Obviously, all three of you have matured quite a bit, but you've all kept the main parts of your personalities. All you have to do is play those up during the team assignments and you should be fine. After that, interaction with your fellow graduates will be rare for awhile as all the teams settle in. After that period of time, bigger changes in your actions won't seem all that odd."

"So, basically, we pretend to be our twelve-year-old selves in class tomorrow, but afterwards we won't have to bother?" Sakura asked, arms crossed in consideration. "Seems simple enough. All I've really got to do is go around with my hands clasped, yelling ' _Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun_ ' and nobody should really be able to tell the difference."

Sasuke grimaced, clearly not looking forward to it at all, but said nothing against it. They had a point, and he could handle it for one day. Hopefully.

"Don't forget that you and Ino are currently Rivals in Love," Naruto snickered, amused by the pained look that was growing deeper and deeper on the Uchiha's face. "You're both fighting for Teme's affections and the right to be called his Number One Fan."

Sakura groaned, palming her face before shoving her hair back almost violently. "Yeah, yeah, I remember."

"I just have to be super loud and obnoxious while Sasuke just has to be quiet and glare at everything and we'll be good to go!" Naruto declared and, sadly, wasn't lying. That really was probably all it took to fool everyone in their class into thinking everything was the same as always.

Sudden snickering had all three males taking a swift step away from their pink-haired teammate. Or, in Naruto's case, leaning as far away as he could without overbalancing his chair and tumbling to the ground.

"S-Sakura-chan?" He asked warily.

"Nothing, nothing!" She assured in a way that had none of them feeling better. "Just remembering something that happened last time around. You know, it only just now occurred to me that you're both mine _and_ Sasuke's first kiss, aren't you, Naruto?"

Naruto could feel his face grow red, hard as he tried to stop it. "T-That wasn't my fault! That kid bumped into me! And you were preforming CPR, that doesn't count, you know!"

"I don't know," Sasuke commented idly, smirking, "you were also my second kiss. That's a pattern forming."

"What?" Sakura demanded, eyes wide. " _When?!_ How come I never heard about this?"

"Never! It never happened!" Naruto insisted desperately.

"Hmm, that means I'm losing," Sakura muttered, hand held to her chin in consideration and ignoring how her words had Naruto's face practically on fire. "But don't worry, I'm sure I'll catch up!"

"You guys are the worst," he complained, slumping over in defeat.

"Maa, maa, aren't you three a bit young for this discussion?" Their sensei asked, amused, over the sound of more snickering. "Speaking of which, it's far past your bedtimes. You lot have a big day tomorrow!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's probably best if I get back home soon. My mom was usually the one to make sure I was up, back when I was in the Academy, and she'll lose her mind if I'm not there," Sakura admitted. She snagged both of her teammate's shoulders before either could step away, holding them tightly. "I'm so glad you're here with me."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted his agreement, carefully wrapping his arm around her waist in return. Naruto didn't even hesitate, hugging the both of them fiercely.

"With all four of us here, there's no way we could lose!" He agreed, grinning wide. "We'll kick Madara and Kaguya's asses all over again if we have to. Together, it'll be easy, you know!"

Kakashi sighed, ruffling both boy's hair before patting Sakura on the head. "My adorable little genin, off to conquer the world."

"But first," Sakura grinned, both boy's expressions matching hers, and if they were more than a little bloodthirsty, well, that only made their sensei feel prouder, "let's start with the village."

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 **A/N: I decided to upload this now, so that anyone interested in this fic could get a better feel for if you like it and want to give it a shot or not.**

 **The next update won't be coming anywhere near as fast, it'll be a few days at least.**

 **But I hope you guys like it so far. Thanks for reading and please follow, favorite or leave a review and let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura snapped awake mere seconds before knocking sounded from her bedroom door, throwing her blanket off and jumping to her feet all in the same motion, kunai already in hand.

And then promptly overbalanced, still expecting to be in the body of an eighteen-year-old, not a twelve-year-old.

"Sakura?" Her mother's voice called through the door, worried. "Are you alright, dear? I just heard an awful ruckus."

"I'm fine, mom," she groaned, heaving herself back to her feet. "I'm just a bit too excited for today, I guess."

It wasn't too much of a lie, after all. The last time around she'd been so excited she'd barely slept the night before and hadn't eaten any breakfast, partly because of her so-called ' _diet_ ' but also because her nerves had had her stomach twisting in knots. All because there was a chance she could be on a team with Sasuke-kun, which would obviously just mean that it was fate, that they were meant to be together, but what would she do if stupid _Ino-pig_ was put on his team instead?

Sakura sighed, forever grateful that she'd eventually gotten over that part of her life, and that she'd only have to pretend for a single day this time around. And knowing how much it would irritate her brooding teammate was just going to make it fun for her.

"If you say so," her mother allowed, sounding dubious. "But you'd better get up, love. You've got barely an hour left to get ready before you've got to leave."

"Okay, mom!" An _hour_? Who needed an _hour_ to get ready for sitting in a classroom all day? She didn't even need that long to get ready for most missions!

Then again, she didn't spend most of that hour on making sure she looked near-perfect anymore, either. Who needed to have their hair brushed just right when they'd likely be beating the snot out of bandits and missing-nin soon, anyways?

She'd done a lot of growing since she was originally this age, she knew that she had, but there was a difference between _knowing_ and _seeing_.

Which was proven even further when she opened her closet only to find the red qipao dress she'd worn as a genin. She could judge Naruto all she wanted for his fashion choices as a kid but it wasn't like hers were much better. The red might not be _eye-searing orange_ , but it was still bright and would make stealth in any kind of environment more than impossible.

Sakura could get away with bright colors when she was older, because she had the skill to make up for it. And, more than that, she didn't go on too many missions anymore, spending the majority of her time either in the hospital or down in the bowels of R&D, working on the prosthetics she'd been building for her teammates.

But now, as she was? Her body was weak. _Extremely_ weak. Just the one punch hours before had left her arm tingling and sore.

So, she'd put up with it today, and then she'd talk her mother or father into taking her shopping later on to get some more appropriate attire. Or, maybe she'd get them to just give her some money until she started on D-ranks, and then she could drag Naruto with her. She was pretty sure that if she didn't, he'd go about wearing his hideous jumpsuit for as long as he could get away with, simply to see the faces Sasuke made in response to it.

And her hair, she thought as she twisted her head from side to side and felt it brush against her back. She'd have to get it cut soon, or begin to put it up. Her body wasn't trained to be very fast at the moment and she knew that the boys wouldn't let such an advantage like that pass them by while sparring.

Her head felt heavy like this, anyway. She couldn't even remember the last time her hair had been this long - in fact, it was probably during the chunin exams, when she'd cut it that first time. After that, she'd only ever let it grow to just passed her shoulders before she'd get annoyed and chop it all off again.

So, she'd put up with the long hair and she'd do her best to act as she once had, back when she'd originally been this age, and tomorrow she'd be able to relax and be more herself and focus on things that were actually _important_ , like getting her body up to snuff.

That thought in mind, she began tugging her dress on with barely a grimace.

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Naruto had almost forgotten how bad it used to be.

Well, no, he hadn't forgotten at all, not _really_ , but... It was difficult to fully remember what it was like, being faced with such blatant hatred and disgust, when he'd finally gained respect and love from the villagers who'd once shunned him. But here, now, he was no longer the one who'd defeated Gaara during the exams, who'd brought Tsunade back and then gone on to be exclusively trained by Jiraiya, who'd helped save the Kazekage, had defeated Nagato and saved the villagers, who'd fought against Obito, the Juubi, Madara _and_ Kaguya and won, saving the entire Elemental Nations in the process.

No, right now he was just the demon brat who wasn't good for anything and should never have been given the chance to pass the Academy. He could see it on their faces, how angry they were when they caught sight of the Hitai-ate tied proudly on his forehead. They grouped together, watching him amble past through narrowed eyes, whispering amongst themselves behind hands that did nothing to hide the sneers underneath.

It was something that he'd grown used to long before he'd ever made genin the first time around and so hadn't been all that difficult to ignore. This time, however, he was definitely out of practice. It was all he could do not to curl in on himself, to not hunch his shoulders against the weight of their absolute loathing.

By the time he'd gotten to the Academy, he was already exhausted, emotionally, but kept his head held high regardless. It would only take a few hours for teams to be assigned and dispersed, and then it'd be just him and his teammates once more and he'd be able to relax. He'd be fine.

And if his grin was a little too wide, a bit too manic, well, it wasn't like anyone in the classroom right now besides Sakura or Sasuke would be able to tell anyways.

Speaking of.

"I got here _first_ , Forehead, this seat is mine!"

"You did _not_! I was three whole steps ahead of you, Pig!"

Ah, the dulcet tones of screeching preteen girls.

Sasuke was sat in the very back corner of the room, leaving only one seat next to him available, and was glaring out the window and doing everything in his power to ignore the girls duking it out verbally in order to claim that open spot.

Avoiding the flailing girls entirely, having learned his lesson last time around, Naruto instead edged into the aisle directly in front of them, scooting as far as he could to the wall. His teammates both glanced his way, gazes lingering for a second on his large grin, but neither of them said anything, knowing it would be too out of character to pass off at the moment.

"Hey, Naruto," a voice called from beside him and he turned, facing a kid that he honestly could barely remember. It was obvious whoever he was, he'd never passed his genin test and had either dropped out or gone into the Genin Corps. "What the hell are you doing here? This is only for graduates."

"Can't you see the forehead protector?" He demanded in response, jabbing a thumb towards the scuffed but gleaming metal. "I am a graduate!"

"Yeah, right!" A girl from the aisle in front of him scoffed. "Who'd you steal it from, really?"

"No one!" He yelled before grinning. "And if I had the skill to steal it from a shinobi, I'd deserve it anyway, don't you think?"

"Whatever, Dead Last," the kid who'd originally spoken laughed before clearly losing interest.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the lot of them but let it go. As he was now, he couldn't really blame them for suspecting he'd stolen it instead of earned it. After all, he _had_ failed the graduation exam.

Not that that was entirely his fault, either. Anyone with knowledge of chakra and jinchuuriki should know that there was never any hope that he'd be able to form a regular bunshin. With as much chakra as he had, it was just simply impossible for him to control it that much. It was like asking someone to pick up a single grain of sand, in the desert, with their bare hands.

A shout of triumph followed by a howl of rage brought his wandering attention back to the spectacle behind him. Sakura had obviously used some underhanded tactic and had claimed the open spot next to the Uchiha heir as her own, something Ino and all the other girls in class were definitely not happy about.

"You _cheater_!" Ino raged, face red in anger.

"What can I say," Sakura shrugged, smug in her victory, "all's fair in love and war."

If anything, this only seemed to piss the Yamanaka off further. "Like Sasuke-kun would love someone like -"

"Alright, everyone take a seat!" Iruka-sensei's voice called out as he ambled into the room, cutting off whatever scathing retort the blonde had been about to unleash. Sakura, having cultivated a bit of a vindictive streak over the years, simply smirked at her former and future friend and twiddled her fingers in a wave before scooting over until there was barely five inches of space between her and Sasuke.

The Uchiha sighed but didn't bother protesting, knowing that doing so would only egg his pink-haired teammate on further, and Naruto snickered at the look of pained resignation on his usually stoic face. Sakura was definitely going all out to play her role and was clearly having fun doing it.

"Starting today, all of you are real shinobi," Iruka-sensei spoke from the front of the class as everyone finally settled down and faced him, knowing by now not to test his patience too much. Naruto blocked out most of what the man was saying, having heard it before and knowing it wasn't really all that important, at least until he heard his name called. "Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Ha! Take _that_ , Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted, jumping to her feet in order to more effectively point at the scowling blonde.

"You better be able to keep up with me and Sakura-chan, Teme!" Naruto couldn't help but throw out, turning in his seat to grin at his grumpy teammate, snickering when he saw that blank face twitch in annoyance.

"Yeah, right, Naruto! Sasuke-kun's the greatest shinobi ever! There's no way you'd be able to beat him!" Sakura cut in, glaring, but Naruto could see the way her eyes were dancing with mischief, probably the same way his own were. A year ago, the two of them probably would have never prodded at the Uchiha this way, simply grateful to have him back and wary of doing anything that would jeopardize that. Now, though, after days of beating the snot out of each other and airing all of their grievances, they'd finally reached a point where they had no fear of poking a bit of fun at each other.

Didn't mean it didn't still piss the guy off, though, if the way he was beginning to scowl said anything, and they'd probably be paying for it the next time they sparred.

Totally worth it, though.

"Alright, alright! Settle down!" Iruka-sensei yelled before they could continue on, voice stern in a way that said if they didn't sit down and shut up, there'd be chalk flying at faces soon. "We still have team assignments to get to. Save it for later."

The both of them subsided reluctantly, sad to have their fun put to a stop so soon, while Sasuke's tense posture relaxed a bit in relief. Usually, he was able to give as good as he got when it came to teasing. As it was now, though, he couldn't do so without breaking his character in a big way. Uchiha Sasuke at twelve years old didn't tease or joke or even _talk_ unless he had to, especially not to an annoying fangirl and the class' Dead Last.

He couldn't wait until after today. Sakura and Naruto might look as if they were having fun playing their own roles, but he could tell that they were chaffing to let loose with each other just as much as he was.

None of them were very used to being anything but themselves anymore.

Lunch came and went and, before long, the genin members of Team 7 were all that were left in the classroom.

"Damn him, just what does he think he's doing?" Sakura growled, cracking her knuckles in irritation. Naruto and Sasuke, sat on either side of her, inched away slowly. "He hasn't been late like this since that time he went missing for a week when Tsunade-shishou called him in for a meeting."

"Well, yeah. That meeting was to inform him that he'd been chosen as her succesor," Sasuke scoffed. "He couldn't get away with tardiness as easily after that."

"Eh, I think it had more to do with Obito and my dad than anything," Naruto disagreed absently, his attention currently on the seal he'd been slowly constructing for the last ten minutes. These hands weren't used to the smooth, sure movements required, not anymore, and so it was taking much more patience and concentration then he'd like. "He got a lot of closure during the war. He didn't have to spend so much time at the memorial anymore and so he wasn't as late to things."

"And, what, now all of that's worthless?" Sakura grumbled but frowned in thought at his words. It still surprised her, sometimes, just how perceptive he could be when it came to people, especially those he considered precious.

"Nah, this is probably more for old time's sake than anything. Besides, he's got a role to play, too, you know. It's pretty common knowledge that he's always late to everything. If he just suddenly started showing up on time, everyone'd get suspicious."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement. "What are you working on?"

"Well, I can't just put an eraser in the door," Naruto told him, tone implying that it should be obvious. "I did that last time and I don't ever do the same prank twice. So, I've got to spice it up a bit."

The fox-like grin twisting the blond's face told Sakura that she was better off not asking. Unfortunately, she was far too curious to just let it go, though she kept her tone wary when she asked, "Spice it up _how_ , exactly?"

" _Weeeell_ ," Naruto hedged for a moment, debating just how much to reveal, "I'd thought about doing it literally, at first. But knowing Kaka-sensei, he'd ignore it until he died instead of just taking that damn mask off, no matter how hot the spices I used were. So, I decided to take inspiration from my mom instead."

"Your mom?" Both teammates perked up at that. It wasn't that Naruto was reluctant to talk about his parents. More, he didn't do it often. They both knew that, while he'd come to terms with the fact that they were gone, he'd always mourn how he'd never gotten the chance to really know them. Stories from others only told him so much, after all, and he tended to hoard every new fact he learned about them jealously.

Out of the rest of their generation, Sakura and Sasuke were fairly sure they were the only ones who ever heard Naruto talk about his parents in anything more than a passing mention.

Instead of explaining further, though, all Naruto did was finish his seal off with a flourish and answer them with a vague, "You'll see," before attaching the paper to the chalkboard eraser he'd used last time around and positioning it in the door.

"Do you really think he'll let that happen twice?" Sasuke asked, more curious than derogatory.

"He let it happen the first time around. No way did he not notice it. The seal isn't obvious and he knows I wouldn't do anything actually dangerous. There's no reason for him not to."

And, an hour later, he was proven correct. Kakashi slid the door open and stepped through as carelessly as he had the first time around, doing nothing to avoid the eraser that fell on his head and released a massive cloud of chalk dust.

"Really, Naruto?" Their sensei drawled. "Reusing pranks now? I'm disappointed."

"Yeah," Naruto choked out, "you caught me _red_ -handed."

That seemed to be all he or Sakura could handle before they both collapsed into a fit of giggles. Even Sasuke was smirking more than usual.

This all led to Kakashi realizing he'd missed something. "What did you do?"

Watching their teacher pat frantically at his hair, as if making sure it was all still there, just sent them into further hysterics. It took minutes of Kakashi pouting before they were able to pull themselves together.

"What can I say?" Naruto, wiping tears of laughter from his face, asked in a sly voice. "I took a lot of inspiration from the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero this time."

Even Sasuke snorted at that one.

"That isn't making me feel any better at all," Kakashi informed his student dryly. "Your mother was an absolute terror when it came to pranks, most of which ended in grievous bodily harm."

"Eh, it's fine," Naruto waved him off like only someone who'd never been on the receiving end of an Uzumaki prank could. "Just check a mirror when you get the chance."

Kakashi sighed but decided that, even now, Naruto didn't really have it in him to lie to his teammates, even about something like a prank. If he said it was fine then it wasn't going to be anything harmful. "Maa, maa, if you insist. Meet me up on the roof."

Without waiting for a response, the copy-nin disappeared in a puff of smoke and a flurry of leaves.

"I'd never noticed before just how sloppy he made his shunshins," Sasuke remarked as they all made their way leisurely out of the classroom and towards the stairs.

"Kakashi-sensei's always been a bit of a drama queen," Sakura shrugged. "Why do something seamlessly when you can do it with flair instead?"

"Plus now someone's gonna have to clean up those leaves, and it's not gonna be him," Naruto pointed out, stretching his arms up into the air before crossing them behind his head. "It's probably gonna be Iruka-sensei. No wonder he would always glare at Kaka-sensei like that."

"I'm sure the chronically late mission reports didn't help, either," Sakura agreed dryly.

Their sensei was, of course, already perched on the railing of the roof when they made it up there. He quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at them but made no comment on their speed, or lack thereof, and simply waited for them to take a seat before saying, "So, how about we introduce ourselves?"

There was a moment of absolute silence while all three gaped before Sasuke demanded, incredulous, "You have _got_ to be kidding me."

"Now, now," Kakashi scolded, amusement clear in his voice but a warning in his lone eye, "you three have spent the last few years in the academy together but I know next to nothing about you."

The implications were clear: somebody was watching and so they were still playing their parts. As far as their audience was concerned, this was the first time Kakashi had ever met the three, and vice versa.

The answer of who would be stupid and/or brave enough to spy on Copycat Kakashi was also pretty obvious. The only one the man would let get away so easily with that was the Hokage.

Honestly, all three of them had completely forgotten about the customized crystal ball that the old man had used to keep an eye on the village. It hadn't lasted past the first week of Tsunade's reign, having been destroyed when Jiraiya had asked if he could have it to help with his ' _research_ '. Tsunade's answer had been to throw her entire desk, and the ball along with it, at him and, subsequently, out the window after him.

As it had been a one-of-a-kind creation, it had never been replaced, which was probably a good thing, all things considered.

Here and now, though, it was still in the possession of its original owner. And of course the Third would be using it to check up on Team 7. It was important that they pass, after all, given the fact that Sasuke was on the team. And the old man had always shown that he had a soft spot for Naruto, regardless of some of the more stupid decisions he'd made in regards to the jinchuuriki's life.

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" Sakura chirped once it became clear that neither boy would.

"Ah, well, my name is Hatake Kakashi," he told them in a bored tone, shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching. He'd kill to have his book out right now but he was pretty sure that would only result in Sakura losing her temper - _again_ \- which was definitely something to be avoided. If anyone in Konoha was bound to recognize Tsunade's strength technique, it would be the woman's former teacher. "I like Icha Icha. I dislike crazy megalomaniacs. My hobbies include reading and training. My dream for the future is to never become Hokage."

All three rolled their eyes in tandem. An impressive show of teamwork, in his opinion.

"Now, from the right, go."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" The blond grinned wide, bouncing with what appeared to be extreme excitement. "I like ramen, especially when Iruka-sensei buys it for me. I dislike rabbits and the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook. My hobbies are training and pranking. My dream for the future is to become Hokage and find true peace."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," the boy in the middle continued, voice monotone. "I like tomatoes and dislike being manipulated. My hobby is training. My dream is to find justice for my clan."

"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like..." her eyes drifted towards the boy beside her and she forced a blush and giggled, only becoming more encouraged when he sighed and looked to the sky, as if praying for patience. On his other side, Naruto hunkered down and did his best to look annoyed while fighting off laughter. "I dislike zombies. My hobbies are... and my dream is..."

"I see," Kakashi grinned in amusement, confident that his mask would hide it, as the girl's giggles tapered off. "Well, now that that's out of the way, we can move on to what'll happen next. Tomorrow, the three of you will be meeting me in Training Ground Three, where I'll be testing you to see if you really have what it takes to be genin."

None of them were worried, of course. There was absolutely no way Kakashi would fail them, even if he could. Which he probably couldn't, given the way the Council was likely breathing down his neck over having him train the last Uchiha. Still, it wasn't like any of them were supposed to know that, and so each of them forced themselves to react beyond the unconcerned shrugs they wanted to give.

Which meant tensing, in Sasuke's case, squawking indignantly in Naruto's and demanding answers in Sakura's.

"But, sensei, we already passed the genin exam!"

"No, you passed _a_ genin exam, not _my_ genin exam." Kakashi eye-smiled at the three of them, tone perfectly cheerful as he explained. "Each jounin-sensei has their own test to administer to their prospective teams. Whether you all pass or not is up to you. Out of the 27 that passed the Academy's exam, only 9 are likely to keep their rank and not be sent back to the Academy."

"What? No way!" Naruto wailed dramatically, shooting to his feet. "We'll show you! We'll definitely beat your test!"

"We'll see," Kakashi replied as vaguely as he could. He really hoped that the Hokage would be satisfied with his spying after this and would leave the test itself alone. He wanted to find out just what they were all capable of now, in these younger bodies, and there was no way they'd be able to do that if there were eyes watching their every move. "Meet me in the morning at seven. Ja ne."

A second later the man was gone, leaving the three genin alone on the roof and blinking at the now empty air in front of them. The silence lasted for only a few seconds before it was abruptly broken by Naruto snickering.

"I wonder how long it'll take him to realize his hair is dyed bright red?"

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 **A/N: This is the last of what I had pre-written for this fic. The next chapter is... a third of the way done? So, hopefully it won't take me too long to get it out.**

 **Anyway, hope you guys liked it, and thanks for reading! Please follow, favorite or review and let me know what you think!**

 **(Also, thank you so much to those of you that already have! It means the world to me!)**


	4. Chapter 4

Habits are funny things, Kakashi thinks as he stares dispassionately at his own reflection. Or, more accurately, at the whirling red eye staring back.

He'd spent the vast majority of his life half-blind, but for rare bursts of brilliant focus and clarity in the midst of hard battles. Had spent nearly every moment of every day with his left eye closed, the Sharingan he'd been gifted hidden away beneath his slanted headband. It just became rote, instinct, a piece of his daily routine that he'd never even had to think about for nearly two decades.

And yet, after only a single year of having the ability to use his left eye, free of the Sharingan and the high risks of chakra exhaustion that came with it, those instincts had seemingly vanished.

It took only twenty-one days to break a habit, according to the Yamanaka who'd been assigned to him after Obito's death and his subsequent personality changes, while it could take upwards of sixty-six to form a new one.

Kakashi truly hoped that it didn't take quite that long, otherwise the next two months were going to be very long indeed. Because the Sharingan is an enormous drain on his chakra reserves, regardless of the fact that it was nowhere near as bad as it had been when he'd originally been this age.

And you would think that, being the massive drain that it was, he'd notice it immediately. Or, at the very least, that he'd notice how everything was suddenly, _startlingly_ clear.

But no. This was the second day in a row that he'd gone through almost the entirety of his morning routine before noticing that his left eye was both uncovered and open, and only then because of the flash of red he'd caught in the mirror.

Really, and they'd tried to make him _Hokage_.

With a sigh, he tugged his Hitai-ate down and made his way out of his apartment, absently reengaging his various traps as he went. Those, at the very least, had stayed the same, though he'd added a few more that he'd had in the future.

It was a good thing his students had been reduced to their younger skill level as well, he decided as he gauged his chakra reserves and the fatigue that was already wearing on him, because if they'd still been in their future bodies, the fight that was about to take place probably would've ended embarrassingly quickly and he would've only had himself to blame.

Thankfully, while their chakra reserves and overall knowledge had remained, their bodies were about as out of shape as one could get without being a civilian. Their muscle memory would no longer be there and no matter how quickly their brains worked, their bodies would never be able to keep up.

In that, at least, Kakashi had a definite advantage. Against their future selves, he's proud to admit that he likely would have stood no chance unless it was truly an all-out battle. Against them now? He might work up a bit of a sweat, if he was being generous.

His students had quite a ways to go, to catch up to their former ( _future?_ ) glory, and it would likely take them quite a while. Less time than it originally had, maybe, but the three of them were still barely teenagers at the moment.

As lacking as they were physically, though, they could probably make up for it at least partly with skill. They each had a veritable library of jutsus at their disposal, though Sasuke arguably had the most varied thanks to his Kekkei Genkai, and the Uchiha still had the Mangekyo on top of that. Sakura had her mastery of medical jutsu and Tsunade's strength technique combined with her ironclad chakra control. Naruto had his rasengan, his sealing and his control over the Kyuubi's chakra.

That was the question, though, Kakashi pondered as he ambled down the street in the direction of Training Ground Three, nonchalantly avoiding collisions with civilians even with his nose buried in his book. _Did_ the three of them still have those things, at least to the point that they'd be usable in a fight right now?

He knew from experience just how taxing the use of Mangekyo could be on the body, though it was arguably worse for him since his hadn't ever been meant for him. Even if he could access it, it was extremely likely that Sasuke would be unable to do much with it for the time being, not without causing more damage than it was worth. Plus, it hadn't escaped Kakashi's notice that the Uchiha no longer possessed his Sage-given Rinnegan. (which Kakashi was honestly thankful for, because how would they have explained _that_?) Meaning it was probably safe to assume that, given Itachi's current status as _still alive_ , Sasuke no longer had an Eternal Mangekyo, either, without which the threat of blindness was a very dangerous possibility. So, even if Sasuke _could_ use Mangekyo freely, _should_ he?

And at this point in time, Naruto's younger body had only ever been introduced to the bare minimum of demonic chakra. Even with the seal now open and the two working as partners, that much potent chakra running through his system without the chance to build up his tolerance was likely to be... damaging. As far as Kakashi knew, Sage Mode should still be fully attainable to the Uzumaki at the moment, since he still knew how to balance Nature chakra within himself, but would he be affected by the fact that he technically no longer held the Toad contact? Or did he? After all, summon animals were beings that lived in their own dimension and only came to this one when called, who was to say that such a thing could be affected by a seal that rewound time? After all, wasn't time just another dimension when you really thought about it?

There were so many unknown variables to take into consideration and, until they tested it out, it was impossible to say, one way or another.

Sakura would probably be the one most unaffected of his students by their current obstacle, skill-wise, but she was also the one who would suffer the most physically. Most of her skills came from her precise and total control over her chakra which was something she still had the ability to do, along with the reserves to still make use of it. But, comparatively, her body was _worse_ than out of shape. In this time, the girl had spent the last few months, at least, on a so-called _diet_ , which in fact had left her body weak and practically half-starved. It was no wonder that she'd been so abysmal at taijutsu at the start, since it had probably taken everything she had not to simply black out at the strain of exercise. And until she built up a respectable amount of muscle, using the Legendary Sucker's strength technique would probably cause her more damage than it was worth, in the long run. Likely, the only reason she'd been able to get away with it when they'd first arrived in this time was the fact that she could heal the worst of the consequences.

Kakashi himself could admit that he had a bit of training to do, too, to build up the strength and skill that had dulled in this body since his retirement from ANBU, but he still had the reflexes of a jounin, still had his Sharingan and Mangekyo and the knowledge and chakra reserves to use both, though he was out of practice. All in all, he'd likely be back up to his future level - or _better_ \- within just a few short months.

His students, on the other hand, would likely take years for their bodies to fully catch up.

At least they had that time, he mused to himself as he took a quick glance at the sky, noting that it was about three hours passed the time he'd given his students to meet and that he should probably make his appearance soon, lest they decide their annoyance was enough to collaborate on a suitable payback together.

(And Kakashi had to resist the urge to shiver at just the thought. Naruto was definitely an Uzumaki, through and through, something that was all too obvious when it came to his more dangerous pranks. Combine his creativity with Sasuke's aggressive need to get even and Sakura's quite frankly terrifying level of unsympathetic vindictiveness, and it made an absolute recipe for complete disaster. Kakashi's apartment hadn't ever been the same, after that last time, and Tsunade hadn't been able to look him in the eye for _months_ afterwards without breaking down into gleeful snickering.)

They would use today to assess where their abilities stood, which ones they could still dependably use and which would have to be trained or put on hold until their bodies could withstand the strain of them. And then they'd be able to start making plans on how to go from there. They had a few months yet until the disaster that was the Chunin Exams and everything that had subsequently followed. And, after, they would hopefully have a few years, at least, until Akatsuki began truly making their move. It should hopefully be plenty of time to come up with plans and contingencies and to work on what needed to be worked on so that they'd actually be capable of carrying them out.

Yes, Kakashi decided, that was what they would do. Until they knew what their current limits were, speculation would only get them so far.

With that, he finally acquiesced and shunshined to his final destination, arriving in his usual flurry of leaves with a guileless smile and a ridiculous excuse already on his lips, only to pause.

Because the three genin before him looked almost nothing like the ones he had supposedly only met the day before.

All three of them had traded in the outfits they'd worn yesterday for much more sensible attire. They were now mostly clothed in grays and blacks, though Naruto and Sakura hadn't given up their signature colors completely. Sasuke had clearly decided to replicate the ANBU's outfit, sans white body armor, which truthfully looked a bit silly on his twelve-year-old frame, but it wasn't like Kakashi could judge; it'd taken him months to get used to the looser-fitting clothes that most shinobi usually wore. Sakura had even taken the time to visit a salon, apparently, her bubblegum pink hair trimmed into a bob that framed her face, her bangs now styled to lay over her forehead much like they had in the future.

If this really was only the second time he'd met them, he likely would've been reluctantly impressed. It took most until they reached chunin to realize that they really didn't have the skill necessary for the freedom of dressing as conspicuously as they wanted. It was partly the reason those who reached that rank were often required to wear the vest; they were now of higher rank and thus carrying out missions far more dangerous than they had previous experience with. To stick out when they didn't have the power to back it up was a death sentence for most.

As it was, he simply felt exasperated, especially when he focused on what they were _doing_ instead of just how they appeared. Because all three of them were sitting peacefully side by side, obviously comfortable in each other's company. Sasuke was inspecting his weaponry, Sakura was idly flipping through a massive medical tome and Naruto was almost frantically scribbling away in a notebook, the look of complete concentration on his face so much like Minato-sensei's that it almost made Kakashi's heart ache.

Really, he didn't know what he'd been expecting. None of them had ever been what you'd call _subtle_.

"You're very lucky the Sandaime was content to wait for my verdict instead of spying in," he informed them dryly. Not a one of them bothered to look up or even acknowledge his presence, which, _rude_. "Or else the sight of you three now would be more than a little suspicious."

"We could've just said that we'd taken your threat yesterday seriously," Sakura shrugged, finally glancing up at him. Her unimpressed expression told him exactly what she thought of his tardiness. "None of us want to be sent back to the academy. Now, we can just say that _you_ told us to take it seriously. We're the first team you've ever passed. Nobody knows just how you'd act as a teacher to genin. The only prier experience you have is with ANBU, right?"

He grudgingly admitted that she had a point. "And Naruto's new fervor for note-taking?"

"I just happened to mention that I'd seen the name Uzumaki in a history book and that they'd apparently been seal masters. No one can blame him for wanting to be closer to his family in any way he can, right?" She asked innocently, head cocked to the side in seeming obliviousness, and Kakashi decided to admit defeat in this case. There'd still likely be questions, especially from the Sandaime and Iruka, but it probably wouldn't present too much of a problem.

Besides, at the moment that wasn't actually what they were supposed to be focusing on.

"Alright then, you three," Kakashi clapped his hands together lightly and instantly had their attention. Within moments their things had been put away and they had fallen into line before him, ready to receive orders from their team captain. Honestly, the change in them was so much more jarring when paired with their youthful appearance. "Today, we're gonna test out our limits and find where they are. We need to know what we can do and, more importantly, what we _can't_. You're going to come at me with all you've got. You already know your objective."

He pat the two bells tied to his belt loop gently, fondly, and watched his students nod, their faces set in determination. They'd been unable to get even one the first time around, working separately and blind to the true nature of the test. The second time, Naruto and Sakura had used deviously underhanded tactics to get one over on him, which he'd been a little sore about at the time even as he'd commended them whole-heartedly for it.

This time, all three of them were together, were a true team, and there was no chance of having the ending of one of his precious books spoiled, even if they'd decided to try the same tactic twice, which was extremely unlikely.

It would be interesting to see just what they came up with this time.

"Well?" He asked, smiling at them cheerfully. "Get to it."

Within seconds, he was standing alone in the clearing.

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* * *

.

Naruto stopped after a few long moments of running, landing to crouch noiselessly on the ground about a mile and a half downwind of the clearing their sensei still occupied, and waited.

Sasuke might have better reflexes, right now, but the Uchiha had never been able to beat him in flat-out speed. Almost nobody could in the future, really, but for now at least he knew that he had all of the Rookie 9 beaten.

He didn't have to wait for long, though, before Sasuke was landing next to him without a sound. They shared a commiserating look - Sakura was still a ways out and was likely to be Extremely Angry in the face of her obvious physical weakness - before directing their attention and senses towards the area around them instead. Just because it felt like Kakashi-sensei was still in the clearing didn't mean he actually was, something they'd all learned the hard way. In fact, if they didn't already know just what their teacher was expecting to glean from this particular test, they never would've risked stopping in one place for this long, let alone long enough to come up with any sort of plan.

He wasn't testing their situational awareness, though, or their ability to plan on the fly or to cope with unexpected situations. He wasn't concerned about making sure they could work together as a well-oiled machine even without the chance to speak with each other. Today, the biggest concern was just what they'd be able to accomplish now, physically, severely weakened as they were.

Naruto couldn't help but grimace, honestly. It wasn't that he hadn't trained at this age, because he had, but he hadn't known how to do so _correctly_. He'd known that most of his teachers at the Academy disliked him - beyond being the Jinchuuriki to the beast that had destroyed their village, slaughtered their comrades and killed their Hokage, he'd also been just plain loud, obnoxious and ill-behaved - but at the time he hadn't caught on to the fact that some of them had been outright _sabotaging_ him.

It wasn't anything big, not anything easily noticeable, otherwise he knew Iruka-sensei at the very least would have never let it pass, even before he'd grown close to Naruto. Just a taijutsu kata corrected wrongly here, a question _"accidentally"_ ignored there, but after years those small things very quickly added up. And it wasn't like he'd had anyone to turn to, to ask for help from, when he'd been younger. Other kids could ask parents, siblings or friends for help with their homework but Naruto hadn't had the option. And by the time Iruka-sensei had become his teacher, he'd simply stopped trying to get help from anyone, since it clearly didn't work, and hadn't even thought to try again.

Hell, he hadn't even really known just how badly his writing and reading-comprehension skills had been until he'd gone on his training trip with Ero-sennin and the man had tried to conscript him into helping edit his manuscripts. But he'd never had anyone to teach him those things before being entered into the Academy and it was something all the other kids had already learned.

The point was, at this age, Naruto had no base. His taijutsu had been more bar-brawl than anything, with little to no finesse, and he had no muscle-memory for his future style, nor the strength to really back it up. He knew a fair number of ninjutsu but his younger hands couldn't keep up properly, making his seals slow and clumsy. His brain now moved far faster than his body could ever hope to keep up with, regardless of what speed and stamina he might have still possessed.

As if all of that weren't bad enough, Kurama had already gravely warned him away from trying to access any of his Tailed Beast chakra. Not only would it be felt throughout the village and send everyone into a panic, but it was also extremely likely to... erode away at him. A lot like it had before the seal had been opened, apparently, but much worse because his body now hadn't ever had to handle more than negligible amounts of the demonic chakra before.

So, that pretty much left Naruto with Sage Mode, something he knew he could still access, _thank the Sage_ , but which probably wouldn't be all too helpful in the grand scheme of things. It would make him faster, stronger, more durable, sure, but it was unlikely to be enough to make a huge difference with his body being this lacking.

There were a lot of reasons why time travel was a bad idea. Being stuck in his younger, _weaker_ body was definitely near the top of the list.

Glancing back and catching sight of the ugly scowl on Sasuke's face, he knew he wasn't the only one who thought so.

Still, Naruto couldn't help but try to turn his thoughts towards the positive, as he always did. There wasn't much point to sulking about it. What was done was done and no amount of bemoaning it would change anything. Instead, he'd just have to work twice as hard, _three times_ as hard if he had to. He'd managed it last time, with all the odds stacked against him, and this time he had a major head start, had others that he could whole-heartedly depend on.

They weren't starting with nothing. They were Team 7, would always be Team 7, and they had each other. That was enough. Until they built up their individual strength once more, that was more than enough.

Sakura crashed through the underbrush at that moment, bangs sticking to the sweat on her face and chest hitching as she worked to regulate her breathing, her movements jerky and containing none of the finesse they usually did.

The look on her face was practically apocalyptic and usually meant that someone was about to get punted through a wall hard enough to bring down the entire building.

(And that wasn't just an over-exaggeration, either. He was pretty sure that one guy had ended up with almost all of his bones broken, though even Naruto had a hard time dredging up sympathy when it had come as a result of him - at the height of stupidity - attempting to drug Sakura's drink in a bar in Kiri. What could have once culminated into an international incident had instead ended with Terumi Mei high-fiving her. Which had been _terrifying_ to witness.)

Thankfully, none of that wrath seemed to be aimed at either of them, at the moment, and Naruto just hoped they could keep it that way.

" _I hate this_ ," Sakura snarled, stomping forward to stand next to them, angry past the point of caring if her movements were announcing their position like a neon sign. Usually, such a thing would result in Kakashi descending upon them like a wraith, and Naruto and Sasuke were both tensed in preparation for it, but it still appeared that their teacher was content to let them come to him for once. "Kakashi-sensei wasn't even out of sight and I was already tired. What in the hell was I _thinking_ at this age? I have no stamina at all, whatever muscle I built up in the Academy has been burned away, likely to make up for the fact that I've clearly been _starving myself_ , and this isn't a new development! This has to have been going on for months! How could our teachers see prospective kunoichi doing this and not set us straight immediately? How could they let anyone graduate in this condition?"

Naruto remained quiet as she ranted, less out of fear of calling himself to her attention and more because he really didn't know what to say to her that wouldn't just feed her anger. Because there really were no good excuses to be made. A lot of the teachers right now hadn't been in a fight in years, if they were shinobi at all, with the exception of a rare few. And those few tried, they really did, but they couldn't be everywhere at once, couldn't cover all the bases.

"After this, we're going out for ramen for lunch," she announced, head held high even as they snapped theirs around to stare at her, Sasuke in betrayed disbelief and him in hopeful excitement. "It'll replace the sodium we lose, and I need the carbohydrates. And for dinner, we'll go to Yakiniku Q. Tomorrow, after training and missions, we'll go shopping to stock up on food. Training won't do us any good if we're not eating right."

"But... ramen for lunch?" Naruto asked, just to be sure.

"Ramen for lunch," Sakura nodded. "And Kakashi's paying."

Naruto let a grin split his face. He wasn't at all looking forward to another shopping trip; just the one had been excruciating enough, honestly. Granted, he'd been henge'd the entire time, so he hadn't had to deal with angry civilians or ridiculously unfair prices, but it had still taken him a while to find something he was happy enough to wear. He'd stuck to darker shades, like he'd taken to doing in the future, and found a dark grey sleeveless shirt, equipped with a tall neck that he could duck his face into, to hide the marks on his cheeks, and a large hood that he could cover his bright blond hair with. The lining was edged with a dark orange, only noticeable in the light, and he'd taken the time the night before to painstakingly stitch a dark blue Uzumaki spiral into the back. He'd been tempted to make it orange, or red to match the majority, but had ultimately decided against it. Something like that would be a pretty big bulls-eye and would only make all his other efforts go to waste.

Sakura had followed his lead, directing her attention towards darker clothes instead of the bright pinks and reds she'd always favored. The top she'd decided on had born a resemblance to what she'd worn before they'd been sent back, though with shorter tails and a bit more modest, but in a medium grey with dark red lining, and she had added her clan symbol to the sleeves sometime before this morning . She'd chosen a pair of black shorts to wear underneath, reaching down to her knees, and had added a belt with pouches on either side to hold the medicines and poisons she'd be stocking up on.

Sasuke had gone the simple route, opting to get as close to the ANBU outfit he'd worn practically nonstop since joining their ranks as he could, because he was a boring stick in the mud even at the best of times. He'd apparently decided to add the Uchiha fan to the back of it, though it probably had been a very grudging allowance. Sasuke at this age had held a lot of pride in his clan and, while that hadn't completely changed, it had definitely lessened after everything he'd learned about them. And part of what he'd liked so much about ANBU was the option to just... fade into the background, to become one of the many, even as he was raised through the ranks. Here, now, that wasn't an option for him.

Still, they'd all made their changes, and had come out of the trip satisfied with what they'd accomplished.

That didn't mean Naruto wanted to experience it again, though.

But Sakura was staring them down, eyes burning with barely withheld rage and just daring them to argue, to give her a reason to unleash all her pent-up frustration on them, and neither of them were stupid enough to say a word in the face of that.

Besides, ramen was a pretty good motivator when it came to getting Naruto to agree to something he otherwise would've outright refused, and he wasn't at all ashamed of blatantly falling for it.

Sasuke glanced between the two of them, calculated his odds of changing their minds, and then sighed and gave in with bad grace.

"Whatever," he grumbled. "We have to get through this first. Plan?"

"I'll have to be relegated to support," Sakura concluded after a moment of silence. Naruto could tell by the look on her face that she hated having to admit it. "I can use the Strength Technique once, maybe twice before the damage will be too much to heal quickly. I can still use jutsu and I can steal heal you if I need to, but I won't be able to for long. Having enough chakra and control won't do me a lot of good if my body gives out."

"And we can't trap the area if Kakashi-sensei isn't moving," Naruto murmured, hand held up to his chin in thought. "Jutsu and Sage Mode are all I've got to work with. Kurama said I'm not allowed to use his chakra for a while, not until my body has more of a resistance to it. Sasuke?"

The Uchiha grimaced. "I'm pretty sure I still have my Mangekyo but it's probably just that. Not the Eternal Mangekyo. So, I don't know how using it will go. Beyond that... I have jutsu. My taijutsu was almost chunin-level at this point, but that's not really saying much."

They all shared a discouraged look. They'd already known it, from the moment they realized they were in their pre-genin bodies, but to hear it laid out like that... They were all in a bad way, far behind their own standards. It was going to take a colossal amount of work to whip their bodies into any kind of shape.

"Well," Naruto chirped, trying to interject as much cheer into his voice as possible, "we gotta start somewhere, yeah? Might as well be now, 'ttebayo!"

Sakura and Sasuke shared a look, exasperated and fond beyond measure, and then nodded, their gazes hardening with determination. This was a challenge and no member of Team 7 had ever been good at turning away from a challenge.

"Right. Let's do this."

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* * *

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 **A/N: This chapter was so difficult and not at all what I had wanted. It just feels very clunky to me. But it's been a while since I last updated so I want to get at least something out. Sorry to any of you who are disappointed with it.**

 **Kakashi definitely seems like the type of person that would get lost in his own thoughts a lot, would try to map everything out mentally and would have to force himself to stop when he started going in pointless circles. Hence why he ended up always losing time at the Memorial.**

 **This chapter isn't as light or as playful as the previous ones. And they won't always be. I have a lot of problems with canon and I want to see them actually addressed. And so they will be. Because the members of Team 7 have absolutely no time for anyone's shit anymore and it's glorious.**

 **Honestly, if there's anything along those lines that any of you would like to suggest, I'm all ears. Who knows what might spark my inspiration.**

 **Also: I've gotten a question regarding Sasuke's Rinnegan and why he no longer has it. And it's along the same reasoning as to why his Mangekyo is no longer Eternal. To develop a Rinnegan, you need both Uchiha and Senju DNA. It has nothing to do with chakra, not really. And, while Sasuke's future body had the required DNA via the Sage, younger!Sasuke obviously does not. Ergo, no Rinnegan. Just like he no longer has an Eternal Mangekyo because younger!Sasuke only has his own eyes, not Itachi's. Hopefully that makes sense to all of you! And sorry for any confusion I might have inadvertently caused for not explaining it outright from the get-go.**

 **Anyway, as always, thanks for reading! Please follow, favorite or leave a review to let me know what you think!**


	5. Chapter 5

In the end, they each decided that simplicity was the best way to go.

There wasn't any need for some convoluted plot; their teacher already knew they had the ability to pull that off if it was neccesary, and that wasn't what this test was about to begin with. What they needed was to be showy while also being stealthy and, with Naruto on the team, that was actually fairly possible.

And so, after a few minutes of hashing it out, they made their way back towards the clearing, not bothering to hide their approach. These bodies were clumsy and Kakashi was a jounin. Even if they tried, it was doubtful they'd be able to sneak up on him. At least, not until he was sufficiently distracted.

Sakura made the first move, leaping from a tree branch and bringing her fist down onto the ground with all the chakra-enhanced strength that she could. Instantly, it buckled outward, breaking apart easily from the force. Kakashi, long used to such moves, simply used the momentum to jump and avoid it, landing gracefully on two feet once more after everything had settled.

And then had to immediately dodge, as Naruto bore down on him with a rasengan, his eyes a clear indication that he was utilizing Sage Mode. And again as Sasuke bombarded him with a Phoenix Flower Jutsu. And again as Sakura volleyed a handful of shuriken at him.

Soon enough, all three of them were coming after him, back to back to back, trying their best not to give him a moment of rest. Their jutsu repertoire really was admirable, had been even when they'd been older. Now, though, it was likely to turn a whole hell of a lot of heads. Not even most high chunin knew so many, and here were three seemingly _pre-genin_ , throwing them out like they were no big deal. Even Sakura, though she stuck more to the outer edges, trying to distract him with precisely aimed kunia and shuriken more than with jutsu, likely in an effort to save her energy for the right time to use another hard punch.

It was going about how Kakashi had figured it would. They were miles, _miles_ ahead of their peers when it came to chakra control and application, and both Sasuke and Naruto likely were physically, as well.

But he could see that they were already tiring, already faltering. The only one still going strong was Naruto, but he'd always been a chakra and stamina freak, and Sage Mode had only made him that much more durable. But even so, they all only had the bodies of barely trained kids. They wouldn't last much longer.

And then suddenly the clearing was flooded with _blond_ , everywhere, giving Sasuke and Sakura a chance to step back and catch their breath. Kakashi approved of the tactic, even as he cut through the horde like butter, but if he were a true enemy it never would've worked. Would've likely backfired, drawing attention to weakness instead of away from it.

He debated, for a moment, going over to his other two students to prove a point, but ultimately decided against it. They probably already knew it just as well as he did.

As he dispelled one of the last groups of clones, their eyes having returned to Naruto's usual bright blue, he felt a slight shift in the air behind him, the only warning he got before a Fūton: Great Breakthrough was directed his way. Not even a second later, Sasuke had taken his chance to add a Grand Fireball. Usually, that attack was fairly useless, unwieldy and slow enough to easily dodge, but added to the boost of a wind jutsu and backed by both boy's chakra, it turned the clearing into a mini inferno that even Kakashi barely avoided the reach of.

Just as his feet touched down upon a clear chunk up uprooted earth, a hand was shooting up from the ground towards him at lightening speeds and zeroing in on the bells attached at his hip.

Kakashi could've dodged again, if this had been a real mission or if he'd been taking things more seriously. But he could see the way Sasuke was panting and grimacing, his limbs trembling with faint aftershocks from the Raiton jutsus he'd used earlier. Sakura, below him, was heaving for breath and clearly struggling to find the strength to dig herself out of the Doton jutsu she was using. Naruto could likely go on, especially if he'd left another clone somewhere to gather more nature chakra, but he'd probably be going on alone until his teammates restored their energy.

In the face of that, Kakashi decided to let them have this victory. It'd probably be the last, for a while, until they trained up more endurance. And the three were likely to be extremely frustrated and disappointed in their performance already, no need to rub that in further by denying them this one thing.

And so he let Sakura's hand snag on the bells and didn't fight as she tugged them away. He could see the distaste on her face (none of them appreciated being given a handicap, competitive as they were) but also the faint pride. She probably hadn't expected to do as well as she had, given the shape she was in.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, though not quite as enthusiastically as he might've had it been a true victory. Sasuke, standing beside him, only grunted.

"Nicely done," Kakashi praised as he stooped to give Sakura a hand out of the dirt she was still fairly encased in. The one he'd thought was Sakura, now revealed as a henged clone, saluted him cheekily from where it still lingered on the edge of the clearing before dispelling. "It was a good plan, to distract a stronger opponent with big attacks while your teammate sneaks up on them. Granted, it wouldn't have worked if Sakura didn't have such precise control over her chakra. The fact that Naruto was practically leaking the stuff helped to mask her approach, as well. And neither of you made it obvious that you were trying to herd me into position, either."

"I had to break the ground first," Sakura admitted with a wince as she attempted to dust herself off. A futile effort, really, but he applauded her determination. "I didn't have the strength to move through solid earth, even if I had enough chakra to perform the Doton technique."

"My clones barely lasted a second," Naruto sighed. "I can coordinate with them way better now but without good taijutsu to back them up, they're pretty much worthless in a fight, besides being distractions."

Sasuke was scowling, staring down at his twitching fingers as if they'd betrayed him. "I couldn't put a lot of power into my Raiton jutsus. I can barely feel my arms at all. This body is so _weak_."

Silence descended upon them as the Uchiha spit the last word like a curse. Because he wasn't wrong and they all knew it.

"We have a lot of work to do," Kakashi finally announced, eyeing each of them. His students met his stare solemnly. "Obviously, our first priority is going to be working you three into shape. By the time we meet up tomorrow, I'll have your training planned out, because you're all at different levels right now. It's going to be the training from hell. What Gai puts his team through will look like a _dream_ in comparison."

None of them argued, didn't even look like they wanted to.

Instead, Sakura said, "I can help by healing us at the end of every day, replacing and repairing our muscle fibers then instead of waiting a few days for it to really kick in. I can't do it for long; it wouldn't be very healthy for our bodies if I did. I can probably do it for a month at a time, while taking a month in-between to let it build naturally. Though, I'd say I shouldn't do it for more than three or four months overall."

Everyone took a second to ponder that. Kakashi knew how best to train to build muscle, of course, but he didn't know the medical specifics. And he'd definitely never heard of anything like that before. Though, maybe that wasn't so surprising, given Sakura was the one suggesting it.

"Kurama says he can do that for me," Naruto interjected, gaze unfocused as his attention was clearly turned inward. "He says it'll be a good way to help me get stronger quicker while also introducing his chakra to my body in small doses. It'll take a while to build up enough immunity to even try for a single tail without really messing myself up, apparently. He wants to take any chance he can get to combine our chakra."

"We can also add weights," Sasuke suggested, face twisted into a grimace as he admitted, "it worked well for Lee."

"Yeah, Bushy Brows has always been super fast, even when we first met him! He totally kicked Teme's ass without even breaking a sweat!"

Sasuke growled, swinging out a fist that Naruto neatly spun away from with a challenging smirk. Before either of them could attack again, or worse, devolve into rolling around in the dirt like untrained puppies, Sakura stalked forward and planted herself firmly between them, the set of her face just _daring_ them to try and move her.

"Usually, for our age group, weights aren't the best idea, actually. They can seriously hinder our growth and even be counterproductive. But if we're also reinforcing ourselves with chakra while we wear them, the damage should be negligible. And it'll help our bodies build up more of a tolerance to using jutsu, too. We have the chakra and control, right now, and the knowledge of how to use it. But beyond the Academy Three and Sasuke's Grand Fireball, our bodies haven't had to use a lot of chakra. That's why we tired out so much quicker. Our coils are being stretched further than they ever have before."

Naruto said nothing to this, since it was clear that fight had barely taken anything out of him, where the use of chakra was concerned. Even without being accustomed to the Kyuubi's chakra, he still had Uzumaki reserves, which meant that his coils were almost always stretched wide. He literally had no reference to the way his teammates must be feeling.

"Right, we'll focus on that first," Kakashi announced. "You can train however you'd like tonight, just don't overdo it. You'll need your energy tomorrow. We'll meet at the gate bright and early to do warm-up laps around the village. Then, we'll work on taijutsu until about noon. Break for lunch and then D-ranks until dinner. Then more laps and taijutsu before we head home for the night. Every day will start with laps. I might adjust our schedules day to day, but until you've gotten to a point that I'm happy with, all of our effort is going to be strictly physical conditioning. If you want to train something else, do it on your own time but don't let it affect what you do with us. Got it?"

They all nodded. They each had things they wanted to brush their skills up on separately, of course, but they could see the logic of making this their priority.

Naruto, at least, knew that he'd be able to set his clones to work on transcribing his fuuinjutsu notebooks, since they wouldn't be much help at all with getting into shape. It wasn't like any muscle they gained could be reabsorbed the way their chakra and knowledge could, after all. Besides, those notebooks were important and, as tedious as it could be sometimes, it was also kinda fun, especially since he was catching things he'd missed the first time around or, more often, getting inspired for more and more ideas. He'd already blown through two notebooks already, one of old notes and the other full of new theories.

The box of battered notebooks he'd received after the war, after his parentage had been acknowledged, had been true treasures to him. They'd each been full of his parent's thoughts, sometimes written with careful, looping script and sometimes scratched out in a hurried, almost frenzied scrawl, like if the words weren't put down onto paper fast enough they'd be lost forever. It had made Naruto feel closer to them than he ever had before, had resulted in him carrying at least one around with him everywhere, re-reading them over and over almost obsessively until he'd had them all pretty much memorized, to the point where people had actually begun jokingly comparing him to Kakashi-sensei.

Of course, they'd been full of advanced theories, written by two of the greatest fuuinjutsu users in Konoha at the time, one of whom was an Uzumaki who'd spent the first few years of her life living in Uzushio. Memorizing them hadn't meant they'd made a lick of sense to him, and that had been frustrating, because he wanted to know just what it was his father and mother were _saying_.

Which had led him to begging Tsunade and Kakashi and anyone else who had even a vague interest in the art to train him. Most had been more than happy to, Hero of the Fourth War as he was, and while that had made him a little uncomfortable it hadn't stopped him from taking all the help he could get.

Those notebooks were locked away, right now, stored with the rest of his parent's belongings in a vault in the Hokage Tower and out of his reach. He missed them like an ache, missed that connection to his parents, no matter how small it was. Copying what had been written within onto new notebooks wasn't the same, not by a long shot, but it was something, at least.

And these hands really were unused to the smooth, sweeping motions of seal-making, now. It was something he desperately wanted to rectify and hopefully his clones would be able to cover it. He very much doubted he'd have the energy to do it himself for a while, if they were going to be training as hard as he hoped they would.

"Anyway," Kakashi smiled down at them, hands stuffed into his pockets and slouching once more, "you lot pass, obviously. We won't be able to start taking missions until tomorrow, after the paperwork is filed to declare us a team. So, the rest of the afternoon is yours. I've got a meeting with the Hokage to get to."

All three of them lunged forward, grabbing a solid hold of his arms before he could shunshin away, and he paused to blink bemusedly down at their determined, glaring little faces. "Did I forget something?"

"First," Naruto informed him gravely, not loosening his grip even as Kakashi made no move to break free, "we're getting _ramen_."

.

* * *

.

Sasuke had never much cared what the majority of the village thought of him.

When he'd been younger, he'd been more concerned about his family, his _father's_ , opinion. Later, others had only been an annoying distraction, taking his attention away for useless things like _pity_ and empty praise. He hadn't wanted their apologies that something so horrible had happened to his clan. Hadn't wanted them to fall over themselves to fawn at him. Hadn't wanted their compliments or encouragements.

He was an Uchiha, of course he was stronger, smarter, _better_. He had a solid goal and a ruthless determination to reach it, so of course he was leagues above his classmates, who toiled their days away by sleeping or pranking or gossiping.

Eyes had followed him around everywhere, after that night, always full of pity for his circumstance or envy and admiration for his bloodline, and he'd hated it, had largely ignored it, because it was useless to him.

He wasn't oblivious, though. Just as he'd felt the eyes on him, he'd _always_ noticed the eyes on Naruto. Because it was so similar and yet so different, the way everything seemed to be between them.

Where he was greeted with bright smiles and sad eyes, Naruto got glares and hard, unforgiving faces. Where almost everyone was eager to please the moment he asked for anything, Naruto was ignored, shunned, chased away.

The blond had always ignored it, too, had put on large grins and had yelled and laughed unabashedly, had payed the ugly looks and the muttered insults little mind, to the point where most of their classmates had dismissed the treatment without thought. Naruto was a prankster, after all, was always misbehaving, it was no wonder everyone hated him. And if it had actually been going on all along, before they'd ever entered the Academy and before Naruto had ever played a prank on anyone, well, he'd always been annoying, right?

Wrong, so wrong, and no one in their age group had ever even bothered to look passed that. Had seen his smile in the face of other's contempt and had written it off. He didn't think most had clued into it even after they'd learned about Naruto's jinchuuriki status. Honestly, Sasuke wouldn't be surprised if they hadn't; their classmates had each grown into strong shinobi, in their own right, but they hadn't gained much of Sasuke's respect even before they'd been sent back, despite his teammate's exasperated attempts to socialize him. The only one who'd even come close was Shikamaru.

Though, he'd written it off, too, at this age, hadn't he? Ignored it even as he'd noticed it, forced himself not to care because what did it matter? It had nothing to do with him, wouldn't make him stronger, wouldn't get him any closer to his revenge, and so it was just as useless as everything else.

Now, though, he was letting himself notice it. He was feeling the hatred, the dislike, the annoyance and contempt and a hundred other ugly things, all directed solidly at the blond walking at his side. The blond who was clearly having a hard time keeping his head high under the weight of it.

Sasuke watched out of the corner of his eye as Naruto's grin stretched ever wider, bordering on completely manic, and had to resist the urge to snarl.

These people, they had no idea what they were even doing right now. He'd seen Naruto stand strong and proud against so many forces, from Orochimaru to Kaguya, and not be cowed in the least. And yet, just a few minutes of walking down the main road of Konoha, the place that was supposed to be his _home_ , and he was looking smaller than Sasuke had ever seen him, even as his spine was kept rigidly straight.

Sasuke turned to meet the stares with a glare of his own and couldn't help but feel a little satisfied when they flinched back and away from him, one by one. He'd ignored it last time, had done nothing to stop them or to help his teammate, but he'd be _damned_ if he let it go on this time around. The only one who deserved those looks was him, after all he'd done, after what he'd already been planning to do at this age.

Naruto deserved their respect, their admiration, their allegiance. He had never, not _ever_ , deserved their hate.

Sasuke would never let himself be willfully blind to that again.

The street was growing steadily more quiet, filled with an intense unease, and it wasn't until he heard Kakashi pointedly clear his throat behind them that he realized it was because he'd begun leaking a healthy dose of Killing Intent to match his heated glare. If the way Sakura twitched guiltily from the other side of Naruto was any indication, he hadn't been the only one to do so, either.

"Maa, that's not very fair, picking on defenseless civilians like that," their teacher commented idly, seemingly not even glancing up from his book. His heart clearly wasn't in the reprimand, however, as he was surreptitiously sending out warning stares of his own.

Sasuke only scoffed and grumbled, "They're lucky that's all they're getting."

Naruto was laughing, though, a _true_ laugh, and his shoulders had already lost a lot of their tension. "It'll be fine," he chirped brightly. "Besides, we're here!"

Without another word, the blond dashed forward in excitement and didn't waste any time in pulling himself onto a stool. By the time the rest of them had caught up, he'd placed an order and was already prattling away, much to the chef's fond amusement.

" - and then Sasuke-Teme sent a big fireball and Sakura-chan was like _pow!_ Right up outta the ground and got the bells! It was so cool, ojisan! And we all passed and we're on Team 7 now!"

"Congratulations!" The chef and his daughter both cheered, completely sincere, and Sasuke felt his irritation slip away, at least for the moment. He'd never seen these two be anything but kind to Naruto and he knew the blond loved them both dearly for it. "In that case, first bowl is on the house for all of you!"

"Really?!" Naruto was practically vibrating in joy, as if the offer of free ramen wasn't a normal occurrence when the blond was around. "Thanks!"

Sasuke and Sakura took seats on either side of him, scooting away just far enough that they wouldn't be in danger of flailing limbs (when Naruto got into his story-reenactments, that was a very real danger) while Kakashi took the seat at the far corner, slouching as he stared into the depths of his wallet despondently.

Sasuke had absolutely no sympathy for the man. He was the only one that had any real money right now, if you didn't count the monthly stipends he and Naruto had been given due to their status as orphans or the inheritances that Sasuke hadn't ever touched. He was literally the only one capable of treating them, at the moment, and he could act the poor victim all he wanted but there was no way he was hurting for money with his mission history.

The least he could do, as their teacher, was take them out to lunch. And honestly, ramen was the cheapest option they could've picked. He should save his complaining for later, when Sakura somehow coerced him into paying for dinner, too.

They each ordered their usuals, long-used to the menu of Ichiraku, and then Sakura was pulling out her (frankly intimidating) medical text and Naruto was pulling out his fuuinjutsu notes, neither of them paying any attention to the way Kakashi was eyeing them disapprovingly and sighing in exasperation. Really, what did he expect? For none of them to work on what they favored simply because it wasn't what their Academy selves would do?

Sasuke could get away with it, easily. He was a prodigy in the eyes of the village, and it would surprise absolutely no one if he grew rapidly under the tutelage of a jounin, especially one of Kakashi's caliber. Sakura could probably mostly get away with it, too, since she'd always been book-smart with a talent for chakra control. It was really only Naruto that would turn heads and cause suspicion.

He was the Dead Last and had truly been pretty horrible the last time around, not even really knowing how to take advantage of his own strengths. But he'd grown rapidly, too, then, even when he'd still been neglected for Sasuke himself. (Something he knew Kakashi still felt guilty over, and _good_. Even with the Council breathing down his neck, even with their so-called similarities and Sasuke's so-called genius, he never should've prioritized one student above another. Naruto and Sakura had long forgiven him for it and as the only unwounded party Sasuke really should let it go. But if there was one thing the Uchiha specialized in above all else, it was holding a grudge, no matter how hard he tried not to.)

But despite what most people thought, Naruto could lie. Naruto was a _magnificent_ liar. He'd have to be, after the way he'd grown up. And he hadn't let that go, even after he'd become the Elemental Nation's Hero he'd still known how to wield a smile like a shield, to hide so many things behind a grin and act the fool. Even alternatively, he could lie with cold certainty, with a straight, serious face that left no doubt in his words. Sasuke had seen it, time and time again, on missions and in the face of random civilians.

The crux was that Naruto couldn't lie to those that _knew_ him, truly knew him, the way they did, or Iruka or Tsunade or Shikamaru had, in the future. But now it was only Team 7 that would be able to spot the tells, because as much as the Sandaime and Iruka cared for Naruto in this time, they didn't know him anymore. Hadn't even known the younger Naruto, not really, hadn't been able to spend enough time with him, yet, to claim such a thing.

Naruto would lie through his teeth with a smile, when they asked about his new clothes and his new interests and skills. He'd feel terribly guilty about it, would pepper half-truths to soften the blow to himself, but he'd do it, easily, and he wouldn't be doubted because nobody would ever expect him to lie convincingly to anyone, let alone the ones most precious to him.

Kakashi could relax. He should've learned by now that so long as Uzumaki Naruto was around, even when things were at their worst, they'd always turn out fine in the end, somehow.

He might've done it the hard way, but Sasuke had finally accepted that. He wouldn't turn his back on that faith ever again.

.

* * *

.

"Team 7?"

"Pass."

Absolute silence greeted his proclamation and Kakashi manfully resisted the urge to drop a senbon, simply to hear how loudly it would echo. Instead, he lifted his eyes from the pages in front of him to meet the incredulous stares that were being directed his way.

Really, was it that much of a surprise? Sure, he'd never taken a team before, but he'd also never been presented with a team like _this_. Even back when they'd been unrefined and untrained, they'd each had potential. If they hadn't, he never would've passed them, regardless of what the Council wanted.

The Hokage cleared his throat, trying to draw attention back to the matter at hand. "Right. Team 8?"

The list went on, more _fail_ than _pass_ , as was usual. A class of over thirty hopefuls and, out of all of them, only nine would be continuing on with their career. Some would go back to the Academy, some would head to the hospital to train as medics and some would be forever lost within the Genin Corps. Others still would give up entirely, would abandon their prospects as shinobi and instead devote themselves to some civilian trade.

It was how things went, how they'd gone for a while now, but Kakashi couldn't help but look around at all those who'd passed in his generation, all those who'd passed in the generation directly after. Couldn't help but wonder just what had happened, for the average of graduating teams to fall so sharply. It wasn't wartime anymore, the way it had been for them as children, but that shouldn't have made _that_ much of a difference, surely?

Maybe he could get Naruto or Sakura to ask Iruka about it. Their goal was to stop things from getting as bad as they had before, to make it so the Fourth War hopefully wouldn't become an issue, and he knew that Naruto would still be striving towards peace in any way that he could. But there would always be missions, would always be people who needed a shinobi to protect them, and failing to train genin-hopefuls to the fullest extent they could was just _stupidity_.

Kakashi resisted the urge to sigh and rub at his temples, the way he'd always seen Tsunade do when she was especially frustrated. Apparently he'd been infected with a Hokage's way of thinking after all, even if he'd never received the title itself.

"Kakashi, a word."

He glanced up, meeting the Sandaime's amused gaze with a shrug, completely unrepentant for his obvious lack of attention. He already knew who'd passed, after all, and even if he hadn't it wouldn't have been any concern of his. If the new genin had been anything to brag about, he'd hear about them eventually.

In the past, he'd heard about them for the first time during the Chunin Exam nominations. That spoke clearly enough of their skills at this stage.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi inclined his head as the last of his comrades slipped out of the room, closing the door behind them, and then he waited.

"Your team," the Sandaime began, just as Kakashi had known he would, "they passed on their own merits?"

As if the old man had expected anything less. "Of course. If they hadn't, they would have failed."

Sarutobi nodded, unsurprised, and clearly chose not to waste his breath on outlining the necessity, _again_ , of both Sasuke and Naruto passing the test and being trained, no matter what. At this point such a thing would be rather superfluous. "And, in your opinion, how did they do?"

"They did well," Kakashi admitted after a moment. He couldn't quite remember what answers he'd given, last time, and didn't want to give too much away now, either. A mix of past and present would probably be the best way to go, here. "There was tension, as their files mentioned, but they were all fairly determined to pass. Enough to work together. Their plan was well put-together. They each have potential."

"Good, good," the Sandaime sighed, looking like a huge weight had just been lifted away from him. "That's good."

"Mm." Kakashi agreed absently before stating, "Sakura seems to have found a mention of the Uzumaki clan on one of her library escapades. She mentioned it to Naruto, who's completely run with it. Apparently, his newest goal is to become a Fuuinjutsu Master."

The Hokage stared at him, truly surprised for once, before his eyes softened with old regrets and long-buried grief. In that moment, he looked every year his age and Kakashi hoped that this time around he'd survive, would live long enough to pass his hat onto Tsunade and finally _rest_ for a while, the way he'd been meant to thirteen years ago.

"Does he know? About his parents?"

"Not yet," Kakashi lied easily. "But I'd like to tell him about his mother, at least."

Sarutobi's gaze slid past him and to the wall, landing solidly on the portrait of the man that had been his successor. For a moment, he said nothing, clearly lost in his own thoughts, before he took a deep pull from his pipe and exhaled a long trail of smoke.

"Yes," he finally decided. "Only a select few knew that Minato and Kushina were together and those that did know fully well who Naruto's parents are. But _be careful_ , Kakashi. The boy is young, has barely made genin and has already been forced to carry one secret too large for his small shoulders. Knowledge of who his father is must not get out, not until he can defend himself properly."

Kakashi very firmly kept his opinions to himself, the way he'd almost always done on this matter, after he'd been so viciously shut down the first few times around. He hadn't had the energy to fight for Naruto in the beginning, the way that he should've, too lost in a cloud of grief after losing the last two people who'd ever meant anything to him. He'd expected Jiraiya to fight tooth and nail for his godson, to not stop until the baby was in his care, and had let himself fade into ANBU instead, never once even considering the other man's own loss.

He'd only realized the extent of his mistake years later, when he'd been assigned to a five-year-old Naruto's ANBU guard after the child had been kicked out of the orphanage and left to live on his own, the way no kid his age should be forced to. By that time the damage had been done, the decisions had all been made, and Kakashi had been barred from so much as speaking to the boy. He'd been made a regular on his guard, for awhile, likely the Sandaime's idea of kindness, before it had become too much and he'd started to request out-of-village missions once more.

He'd been a coward and he knew it. Even after he'd been told the team assignments, all he'd wanted was to fail them immediately so that he'd never have to look at Naruto again, would never have to face the very embodiment of his mistakes. He'd looked at that blond hair, those blue eyes, and had seen nothing but Minato-sensei. Had looked at that large grin, had heard that unrestrained laughter, and had seen Kushina. Had looked at the way Naruto would fail, over and over, and would get up again every time, would never give up, placed everyone else before himself, and had seen Obito.

It had been so hard, to look at him and not react, to not fall to his knees and beg forgiveness, to not run away as far as he possibly could. He'd gotten so used to hiding away, burying his pain down deep, first with missions and later with his quirks, and he'd continued to shy away, even once he'd become the teacher of Team 7, using the excuse of having to focus on Sasuke like a shield.

He'd been a coward then, had always been a coward, and he would spend the rest of his life trying to make up for that, regardless of the fact that Naruto and Sakura had both already forgiven him.

But he was still just a jounin. An elite, maybe, someone who was already in consideration for the hat, but still just a jounin. He couldn't argue, here, couldn't fight back against this decision. Doing so would only result in punishment, would only make things harder for all of them, and in the end it would be a wasted effort. Naruto already knew who his father was, after all, and while Kakashi wanted him to be able to publicly claim it with pride he also knew that wasn't what truly mattered to the boy, not as much as the simple knowledge that he'd had parents that had genuinely loved him.

And so all he responded with was a, "If you say so, sir," and let his tone speak for itself.

The Sandaime's eyes cut to him quickly, sharpening instantly, and this man might be old but he was still a _Kage_ , one that had seen multiple wars, one who'd earned the title of God of Shinobi. His presence alone was enough to cow most people, even most jounin, but Kakashi had faced down Uchiha Madara, had faced down a literal _god_ , and met his stare evenly.

"What," Sarutobi rumbled out after a moment, eyes narrowing in stern disapproval, "are you implying, soldier?"

"Nothing at all, sir," Kakashi replied blandly even as his posture straightened almost without thought, his heels snapping together. It took a bit of control not to go into an ANBU-regulation bow, honestly, and that was incredible. The Sandaime had always had Kakashi's respect, even when he hadn't approved of the man's choices, and this was only further proving how much he deserved it.

The Hokage held his eye for a moment longer before nodding once, sharply, and letting his overwhelming aura drop away. "I'll leave their training in your hands, as is your right, but I'd like updates on their progress. If there's nothing else, you're dismissed."

Kakashi nodded, bowed his head, and then made for the door without another word as the Sandaime returned to looking at Minato's portrait on the wall, losing himself to his thoughts once more. The man had just as many regrets as Kakashi did, he knew, but they must weigh so much more. He wasn't just in charge of himself, or of an ANBU squad or a team of genin; he was responsible for every single person within the walls of the village and many more without. He was one of the highest powers in Fire Country, below only the Daimyō. His choices couldn't ever be easy and he'd likely done the best he could at the time and now could only live with whatever consequences had resulted.

In the face of _that_ , Kakashi decided as he ambled in the direction of the barbecue restaurant, funding his student's stomachs every now and then was a small price to pay.

.

* * *

.

 **A/N: Long author's note up ahead, sorry! It's mostly just some of my views and things I plan to address in this fic in the future, so feel free to skip it if you'd like, but the first part is kind of important.**

 **I had a job interview yesterday and I've already heard back, it's looking extremely likely that I'll be hired (which is a relief, since I'm currently the brokest of bitches) but that means that updates will probably be... sporadic, from now on. Or, well, more so than they already are. I'm not going to abandon this fic, I promise, but it might take awhile between chapters, at least until I get more settled. I hope you guys can be understanding!**

 **So, anyway, a guest left a long and very, _very_ appreciated review (seriously, it made my day, thank you so much!) asking some questions and speculating about what I had planned for this story. Obviously, I can't let you guys know too much, otherwise it'd ruin the suspense, but there are some things I wanted to be clear about, especially in the face of this chapter:**

 **1) I'm going to bring up a lot of things that bothered me about canon and some of those are going to be about the government and the Academy, how they work and the decisions made regarding both. But I wouldn't go as far as to say that this fic will be "political". I don't really have the greatest mind for politics, I only really pay attention to them to do my part in trying to keep the country from completely crashing and burning, and I've never found it a fun subject, even in fiction. I doubt that I'd be able to write such a thing well at all, really. So, it won't ever be the main focus. But it will be brought up.**

 **2) I have a lot of respect for the Third Hokage. I like him as a character and I truly think that he cares for Naruto. I also think that a lot of his decisions are absolute bullshit, especially regarding Naruto and his upbringing, and I wish that they had been explained more in-depth so that we could have a better idea of why he did what he did. I'm going to be applying my own reasoning for that in this fic, because I do have a few theories. I also think that he never should've held onto the hat for so long (though this wasn't his fault at all, obviously, seeing as how his successor died and there really weren't that many other options, what with all of the most powerful shinobi dead, turned traitor or out of the village by that point, which I find to be _extremely suspicious_ ) and that his judgement was completely clouded when it came to Danzo (and his _extremely suspicious_ behavior) and the other Elders. I'm not going to be overly harsh and I'm not going to bash his character but I will be taking a serious look at his choices.**

 **3) I will be doing Outsider POV in this fic. It's a huge weakness of mine and it's a trope that I absolutely adore. I hope I'm able to do it justice.**

 **4) I _love_ Yamato and Sai and I very much do consider them members of Team 7. I haven't quite figured out what I'm going to do with them, yet, but I want to include them, definitely. No promises, but I'll be trying my hardest to work them in there somehow.**

 **Anyway, there's chapter 5! Hope you all enjoyed it, and sorry if the fight in the beginning wasn't what you were hoping for. It was kind of inevitable, though. They have a bunch of jutsu but other than that, they're weak right now. They'll get better. Eventually.**

 **Also, I'm sorry if there's any confusion with jutsu names. I like using the Japanese for the element ( _Katon_ instead of _Fire Style_ , _Doton_ instead of _Earth Style_ , etc.) but I only remember the actual name in English, so I've kind of decided to just mash the two together lmao if enough people have a problem with this, I'll go back and pick one or the other, but hopefully it'll be fine.**

 **As always, thanks for reading, and please follow, favorite or leave a review to tell me what you think!**


	6. Chapter 6

Sasuke wasn't sure how it had happened, exactly, but he couldn't honestly say that he was surprised.

After their dinner (payed for by a suspiciously compliant Kakashi, especially after the fuss he'd kicked up over _ramen_ just that afternoon) Sakura had announced that since there was still time before the market closed for the night, they should get their grocery shopping done now. It was a valid point; with the amount of training they had scheduled for the foreseeable future, until their bodies got used to it, they weren't going to want to do anything, let alone _shop_.

Sakura also knew the both of them well enough to know that, without other options on hand, they'd go right back to the bad eating habits they'd originally had at this age. Naruto would settle for eating a dozen instant ramen cups in a sitting with no complaints and Sasuke would start eating technically healthy but small and extremely bland meals.

With the training they had planned, they needed _food_. Real, healthy food in sizable portions. Otherwise all they'd be doing would be damaging themselves.

So, yes, Sakura had a valid point. Did that make Sasuke any more inclined to agree to a shopping trip? Not particularly.

A glance at his only possible means of support (as Kakashi had fled before she'd even finished the suggestion, the _coward_ ) showed a Naruto who was full and content and pretty much willing to go along with anything at this point, having received two big meals in one day, one of which was ramen, for free. Which, going by the smug smile their teammate threw his way, had been Sakura's plan all along.

So, he'd sighed, glared, grumbled a bit, but had ultimately acquiesced. Thankfully, since it was food and not clothes, the trip itself was relatively pain-free when compared to the day before, especially after Naruto donned his henge.

Which led them to now.

 _Now_ being his walk through the dark and usually deathly silent Uchiha compound towards his family home with both of his teammates trotting along behind him, their arms just as weighed down with bags as his own. They weren't being disrespectful but they weren't being quiet either. At this age the first time around, it would have driven Sasuke into a complete rage, because _how dare they_ have such a meaningless, trivial conversation here, in this empty place full of the ghosts of his family?

As it was, Sasuke found himself nothing but grateful, though he would admit that it was odd, seeing anyone living besides himself walk these streets. Before he'd left, he'd never invited anyone here, hadn't ever even contemplated it. In his twelve-year-old mind, it was absolutely unthinkable. By the time he'd come back, years later, the compound had been gone, destroyed in Pein's attack and eventually rebuilt as housing for civilians.

He'd mourned the loss of it, vaguely, but hadn't objected to the repurposing of the land. And in a way, he'd actually been a bit relieved. He'd always felt tied to this place, even when the Hokage had offered, multiple times, to house him elsewhere. Despite the nightmares hidden in every crevice and cranny of this place, it had been his home, his family's home, and he'd felt like to give up that last connection might have been just as big of a betrayal as Itachi's. And with it gone, destroyed and replaced, the decision had been taken from him, and he'd found himself weirdly appreciative of that fact.

And then he'd woken up, twelve again, and laying in his old room in the house he'd grown up in, surrounded by a silence so deep it rang in his ears.

He shouldn't be surprised that his teammates had clearly picked up on how uncomfortable he was with this place. He'd already said his goodbyes, had already laid these ghosts to rest, and to be surrounded by them once more was jarring, to say the least. And had resulted in more interrupted sleep than he'd experienced in _months_.

So, _of course_ Naruto had picked up on how he was feeling, his reluctance to return to this place alone for another night of silence and the faces of the dead invading his dreams. _Of course_ Sakura had noticed his exhaustion, his stress, even if both could be hidden away from literally everybody else. They were his teammates and they knew him, could read him just as well as he could read them, and there was no way they'd step back and just quietly let him cope with it on his own this time.

They were Team 7. None of them had to do anything alone anymore.

Their solution to this, apparently, was to nonchalantly follow him home like puppies. Not asking for permission, not wondering if it was okay, just _doing_.

Sasuke was so grateful for them at times, he almost couldn't believe it. He'd done so much wrong in his life, what could he have possibly ever done to deserve them? Deserved or not, though, they were there and he wasn't ever going to push them away again.

And so he said nothing as they walked through the empty streets, just listened to their mundane conversation, their vague ideas of how to add their extra training to what was already planned, and basked in the feeling of not being alone in here anymore.

They didn't hesitate when they reached his home, didn't pause for a second to cross the threshold right behind him and slip off their shoes, to follow him into the kitchen with the bags they were carrying, to put things away without even asking for direction, already relatively familiar with how he organized things, as if they'd been here countless times before instead of this being the first time they'd ever been invited in.

They didn't hesitate to follow him up into his room, to roll out extra futons and blankets onto the floor and to bed down for the night. Didn't hesitate, didn't question, didn't even seem to look at each other to reach an agreement. Just did, like it was nothing, like it was obvious, because Sasuke was alone and uncomfortable in this place and they had the ability to help him not be.

Really, he might never admit to such a thing aloud, even on pain of death, but he truly did love his team. He might not feel like he deserved them now but he sure as hell wouldn't stop trying until he did.

.

* * *

.

Umino Iruka loved teaching.

As a child, he'd had dreams of becoming the next Hokage, just like every other kid. He had watched on, far away and crowded on all sides, even perched upon his father's shoulders, as the hat was passed from Sandaime to Yondaime, had felt the elation of the entire village surge like a crashing tidal wave as every single voice rose together in a unified cheer. So many people had been lost to the war but in that one shining moment, all around him, there'd been nothing but joy for the future.

He'd dreamed of that moment, again and again. To him, so far away, the figures of the past and future Hokage had been so small, barely even visible, but the very _presence_ of them had been overwhelming. They were the strongest of the village, their greatest protectors, their last defense. And Iruka had _wanted_ that, more badly than he'd ever wanted anything before in his life.

And then the Kyuubi attacked the village and his entire world crumbled to ash.

He'd been lost, then. Had stumbled around in a mire of anger and resentment and grief so overwhelming it seemed to choke the very life from him, leeching it away slowly, so different from the suddenness of his parents' loss.

The Sandaime had been the one to pull him out of that darkness, in the end. Had shown him how to find the light still inside him, his Will of Fire doused to mere embers but still burning ever on.

It had reignited his vigor, and the loneliness of coming back to an empty home every day only made him all the more determined to stand in the same spot the Yondaime once had, to have the entire village raise their voices in joy around him, for him, _with_ him.

Of course, the years weren't always kind and tended to carry with them a number of hard lessons. Iruka was a good shinobi, with many talents and many prospects, but it didn't take long to realize that he'd likely never be a _great_ one. He just wasn't built for it, really, didn't have the raw power, the large reserves or precise control, the inarguable genius. Oh, he was smart, could ace any written test, could make sound strategies, could infiltrate and interrogate and trap with the best of them, but he'd never match up to a Nara, especially not a motivated one. He wouldn't ever match up to Gai or Kakashi or any number of jounin in terms of strength and skill.

He'd never be the strongest of their village, their greatest protector, their last defense.

It had been a hard truth to swallow and he'd spent months bouncing from department to department, knowing he had the skills necessary to find a place in them but not wanting to because that would mean _giving up_ , would mean accepting that the dream he'd had for so long really was out of his reach, and he didn't want to do that.

And then he'd accepted a mission to help as an aide at the Academy, filling in for a woman who'd taken a few months of maternity leave, and everything had seemed to click into place for him.

It wasn't all great things, of course. The children were rowdy and loud and hard to corral. They acted out, refused to listen, slept through his lectures, fought over stupid and petty things. For the first few weeks, his mind seemed to be made up of nothing but a litany of endless apologies to his own former teachers, for the things he'd done and everything he'd put them through.

(He'd actually sent each and every one of them a personalized basket of goods, and though he'd never actually said the words out loud, he knew they understood by the smug smirks they graced him with every time he saw them.)

At first it had seemed almost thankless, almost worthless, because these kids clearly weren't learning anything from him. He didn't have the ability to get them to sit and listen and actually _pay attention,_ not like other teachers he had seen, and no amount of advice or observation seemed to change that.

And then his class had graduated, and he'd seen the proud smiles of those who'd received their headbands, had seen the disappointment mingled with determination on those that had failed, and had felt a flicker of pride within himself. He may not have contributed much, but he'd still done something, had had a hand in helping to shape these young boys and girls, and that was an achievement.

And then, a few months after that brief stint at the Academy had ended, he'd been working the Mission Assignment Desk and had been absolutely _floored_ when not one but two teams of the class he'd worked with had walked in, all of them proudly wearing chunin vests. They weren't just students anymore, weren't just children with dreams of being shinobi, they _were_ shinobi, and he'd _helped_ with that.

The next time a mission came through for a stint at the Academy, he'd snapped it up without hesitation, determinedly ignoring the Hokage's knowing looks. And it had seemed easier than the last time, to get the kids situated, to get them settled in for lessons. There were always the outliers, the troublemakers, the slackers, but where last time he'd had no clue what to do with them, this time around he handled them better, quicker.

Soon enough, he was taking mission after mission at the Academy until he found himself there almost constantly. It wasn't until the Hokage finally made a comment that the realization had dawned on him. He was no longer bouncing between departments, indecisive and desolate with the idea of settling on something. He'd already settled and it had been painless, hadn't hurt him at all, and there was no regret in it, not even when he'd tentatively prodded at his feelings on the matter.

The next year he'd been given his own class, assigned to the Academy permanently and taken off the active missions roster, though he still helped with the Mission Assignment Desk as often as he could get away with, if only to catch glimpses of the kids he'd sent forward into their careers, to see how they grew even outside of his reach. The Hokage seemed to understand and, as long as his primary focus was the children under his direct tutelage, the old man never begrudged him an afternoon or two a week.

Iruka had been all set, excited for his own class, his chance to say that he'd done more than just contributed a bit of help in shaping the future of their forces but that he'd had a direct hand in it. He didn't know how he could've ever thought such a job was thankless.

And then the Kyuubi container had entered his classroom, garbed in dirty and worn clothes, face smudged, shoulders hunched protectively but bright eyes almost defiant when they'd met his own.

Iruka was ashamed to admit that, at first, he'd turned a bit of a blind eye to the mistreatment. It wasn't out of malice or anything, even through his grief he was able to realize that Naruto was a _child_ and, even in his darkest mindset, Iruka very much doubted that he'd ever be able to harm a child. But beyond that, he wasn't quite sure how to act. Because, child or not, he was still housing the Kyuubi, the very monster that still frequented Iruka's worst nightmares, destroying his home and snatching his parents away from him, killing so many including their Hokage and leaving destruction and death and rage in its wake.

So, he'd mostly done his best to ignore the boy. To teach his class as best he could, including Naruto, without ever really focusing on him. And for awhile, it seemed to work. The boy was quiet, unsure, worked not to draw attention to himself if he could help it and seemed utterly content with going ignored.

And then, suddenly, it changed. Suddenly, Naruto was acting out, talking back, distracting the class in any way that he could, playing pranks near constantly, to the point where Iruka was ready to tear his own hair out, completely unsure of how to handle such a situation.

His colleagues had suggested severe punishments and instant expulsion and Iruka had been taken aback because, yes, it was annoying and disrupting but surely such extreme actions were unnecessary? And then they'd laughed and told him how they'd punished the boy themselves, almost seemed to _brag_ about it, and Iruka had felt sick, genuinely sick, with them and with himself. Because he might not have done those things to the boy personally but, by turning a blind eye as he had, he might as well have.

It was no wonder he was acting out the way he was. He might smile constantly but that didn't mean he was happy. And if he was going to be punished harshly, if he was going to be hated by everyone even when he'd done nothing to deserve it, then he _should_ deserve it. He should be hated on his own merits, should be hated for reasons he actually knew and understood.

It had been hard, at first, to ignore his still lingering misgivings about the Kyuubi and focus only on Naruto, but had quickly become easier. He was a rambunctious kid who was seemingly full to the brim with energy, but he was also bright when given the chance, always had a ready smile for anyone who truly needed it, no matter how he was treated. He was a good kid, when you looked past all the mischief, and he deserved his chance at reaching his dreams just as much as any of the other kids in his class.

Iruka tried as hard as he could to level the playing field, to ensure that Naruto spent his days in class rather than running about or sitting in detentions he hadn't even earned. As he grew more and more fond of the boy, he had to work not to show favoritism, because doing so would not only be unfair but would surely cost him control of the other students immediately.

He watched as Naruto failed his exam, again and again and again, and his heart ached for the boy. He wanted to give him this, to just hand the Hitai-ate over and pat him on the head, but that would likely be the fastest way to get him killed. Iruka never wanted to fail his students but he wanted to send them on unprepared even less.

He'd always known that Naruto could be a good shinobi, though, had seen that potential in him even when he'd been doing his best to ignore him. It would only be a matter of time, would only take a few more teachers besides himself actually giving him a chance, and he'd excel, Iruka was sure of it.

And was proven correct when Naruto had learned an _jounin-level_ jutsu in _hours_ and had then used it to defeat a traitorous chunin single-handed.

Iruka wasn't lying when he'd said that Naruto was Naruto, not the Kyuubi, and that he was one of the best students Iruka had ever had. Tying his Hitai-ate around Naruto's forehead, Iruka had never been more proud of a graduating student, had never been more excited to watch a student's journey through the ranks, to watch their career as they grew into a fine shinobi.

Iruka might have had to settle for being a _good_ shinobi but, without a doubt, Naruto would be a _great_ one.

And so he could admit to being a bit restless as he waited for the last of the recently graduated teams to come in, even as he blatantly ignored the amused glances the Sandaime continued to throw his way. Teams 8 and 10 had already come by to pick up a mission, all of them looking proud in their own ways to have passed their final tests to officially become genin under their jounin sensei. At least, until they were informed just what kind of mission it was they'd be accepting (and really, Iruka went over mission ranks and what they entailed every year, how was it still always such a surprise to these kids?) when they all slumped and began to grumble and drag their feet, which was always amusing to watch.

It was mid-afternoon now, though, and there'd still been no sign of Team 7. Kakashi had officially passed them so it wasn't like he could go back on that without a solid and inarguable reason. Iruka wouldn't be surprised if he refused to take his position as teacher seriously but he still had certain responsibilities he had to bow to, one of which was taking his students on D-rank missions, and he couldn't skip out of those without receiving a reprimand, not unless he had legitimate reasons.

So, where were they? He only had a short while left on his shift and he really was hoping to see all of his kids before he was sent home for the night.

Almost as if summoned by the thought, Team 7 entered the room, which in turn went startlingly and abruptly silent. Not that Iruka could blame anyone, with his own jaw hanging open the way that it was. Because the Team 7 before him now was _not_ the same Team 7 he'd assigned just two days ago.

He wanted to blame it on the outfits, since they'd all changed into something more appropriate than the bright, eye-catching ensembles they'd worn previously (and he wanted to be proud of that, he _did_ , but it was still so strange to see Naruto wearing something that could actually be called _subtle_ , it was almost wrong) but, for some inexplicable reason, he knew that wasn't it. Oh, he could see the others around him take in the physical details and brush it off as nothing more than that, even as they gave approving nods towards Kakashi for seemingly inspiring, or ordering, such a change. But Iruka could tell there was more to it.

Maybe it was in the way they stood, lined up before the Desk, comfortable with their side by side proximity. There were no glares thrown between Naruto and Sasuke, no posturing or fighting. Sakura stood to the far left instead of between them, seemingly confident in their ability to get along without a buffer. And what was more, she stood with _Naruto_ between her and Sasuke and didn't even seem bothered by it, like she couldn't care less that she wasn't standing as close to the Uchiha heir as she could manage.

Maybe it was all of this combined with how scruffy they appeared, all smudged in dust and dirt, clearly tired from a hard training session but standing tall and proud despite that, refusing to waiver.

These three didn't look like Academy kids or even freshly graduated genin. No, they looked like _shinobi_.

And then the spell was broken as Naruto grinned, wide and exuberant, and shouted out, "Hey, Iruka-sensei! Hey, Jiji! Got any cool missions for us? Something with princesses and a lot of fights!"

Sakura rolled her eyes as Sasuke scoffed, Kakashi sighing in exasperation from behind the pages of his book (and, _really_ , in front of _children_?), but the Hokage only chuckled, long-used to the boy's lack of respect and quite fond of it, regardless.

Still, long-used to and fond of it or not, Iruka couldn't just let it pass without comment. Naruto was supposed to be _professional_. What if there'd been a client in the room? "Naruto! Don't talk that way to the Hokage! Address him with respect!"

Naruto grinned, cheeky, as mischief lit up his eyes, and Iruka had to resist the urge to bury his face in his hands. He'd just made it worse, hadn't he? "You're absolutely right, Iruka-sensei! Got any cool missions for us, Jiji- _sama_?"

Sighs rang out throughout the room, some annoyed but most reluctantly amused, and Iruka gave it up for a loss. For now. Naruto was pretty solidly set in his ways and, really, dubbing the Hokage with such an affectionate nickname _was_ his way of showing respect. Pushing the issue now would only result in the boy digging in his heels and fighting back. To most, that would probably result in pranks. For Iruka, it would most likely result in headaches he didn't need.

"I'm afraid we're fresh out of princess rescue missions," the Hokage announced gravely, eyes bright with humor when Naruto made a disappointed sound, "but we do have _a_ rescue mission, in a manner of speaking."

Iruka wasn't sure if he'd call it _that_. If anything, freeing the thing would probably count more as rescuing it than returning it to its owner. But then again, for the amount they were being regularly paid, and for a D-rank at that? Without the cat being physically abused, it was worth it.

"It appears that Madam Shijimi's cat has escaped and gotten lost in the village. She's understandably very worried and would like her dear pet returned to her as quickly as possible." The Sandaime extracted a scroll from the pile before him, checking the contents quickly before passing it over to a patiently waiting Sakura. "Do you think the three of you are up for it?"

Iruka had to hold in a snort when all three cast the Hokage bland looks, because three genin against a _cat_? Of course they were up for it.

He could admit to feeling a bit bad. That cat was the devil, not that he could blame it for wanting to desperately hold on to its freedom, and it was extremely unlikely that they'd be able to catch it any time soon or without injury. The thing might be pampered, but it was also smart, and quick, and _vicious_.

Kakashi hummed as the mission scroll was passed back to him, tucking it into his pocket without even sparing it a cursory glance, and Iruka had to resist the urge to throttle the man. "I'm surprised this mission wasn't already picked up. Surely it would be a perfect fit for Team 8?"

"Ah, Kurenai decided to start them off a bit easier, it seems. I'm afraid most of the ideal missions go to those who show up in time to receive them." The last was said with a pointed glance at first the jounin and then the clock on the wall, announcing that it was just after two in the afternoon. Kakashi just shrugged back, unrepentant, and Iruka may highly respect him but he was fairly sure he'd never actually _like_ him.

"Maa, it's fine. This mission is perfect. Isn't it, kids?"

The three genin looked supremely unimpressed, with both the mission and their teacher, but surprisingly said nothing in complaint. Iruka would've expecting a few grumbles at least, especially with Naruto in the room, and yet they all looked perfectly willing to submit and carry out the mission, even if they didn't exactly look _happy_ about it.

"Are you sure?" Iruka couldn't help but ask, his caretaking nature overpowering his professionalism for a moment. Because, really, he wasn't lying when he said they looked like they'd just had a hard training session. "This isn't the easiest mission and all three of you look like you've already had a long day."

His words had the opposite affect he'd intended. Instead of taking notice of their own states or admitting that they may be tired, they all straightened up impossibly taller, looking almost insulted at the very idea of throwing in the towel before they'd even started.

"No way!" Naruto objected, scowling. "We've got this mission in the bag, no question about it, dattebayo!"

"Hn."

"Really, Iruka-sensei, there's no need to worry," Sakura smiled, though it looked a little strained around the edges. "We can handle it."

For a moment, he almost pushed the issue, because genin or not they were still _kids_ , had been his students only a short few days ago. But then he stopped and took in their determined expressions and just couldn't bring himself to doubt them. They were working hard, harder than any other team so far, to achieve their dreams, to grow stronger, and he just couldn't stand in the way of that, not now.

So instead, he took a deep breath and graced them with an approving smile. "If you're sure."

They nodded back to him as one (And wasn't that so strange? What could have possibly happened in such a short amount of time that could've turned the veritable ticking time bomb that was Team 7 into this?), then to the Hokage, and then turned to be led out by their sensei without another word beyond Naruto's shouted farewell.

Iruka wasn't sure how he felt about it, really. Most progressed slowly, maturing and growing in such a way that he could follow along even from the sidelines. Team 7, though, seemed to have jumped ahead in terms of maturity. In Naruto's case, maybe that could be explained away by what had happened with Mizuki, but the other two?

Iruka couldn't deny being confused and, if he was honest with himself, a little suspicious.

But he was also more proud of his students then he could express with words. He knew, without a doubt, that they truly would someday be _great_.

.

* * *

.

Catching Tora was beyond easy, even with how tired Sakura and Sasuke obviously were.

Naruto's healing and stamina had taken care of the majority of his soreness, leaving him almost completely refreshed and ready to go. Sakura had used her healing techniques on herself and Sasuke but they didn't have a bijuu in their gut to replenish their energy. Still, they hadn't complained or slowed down once, just as determined to finish the mission as they were to train themselves back up to a respectable level.

Honestly, the morning session truly had been _hell_ , Kakashi-sensei hadn't been exaggerating. Naruto was a stamina freak, always had been, and even he had had to fight to keep going. He had no idea how Bushy Brows did it every day, with such enthusiasm, but he definitely had Naruto's respect for it.

Iruka-sensei's comment had been a bit of a letdown, as Naruto remembered once more that, here, they were nothing more than recently graduated genin, not heroes of the Fourth War who'd gone toe to toe with an actual god. It had been a long time indeed that Iruka had looked at Naruto, or any of them, like that. Like he wasn't sure if they could do it, like he felt the need to step in and protect them, like they were _children_.

Naruto didn't blame him for it and was actually kind of grateful, because back in this time he'd had so few people who would actually go out of their way to look out for him like that, but it was disheartening all the same. Because they _weren't_ children and they _could_ do it. _Would_ do it, no matter what it took. They were shinobi now, adults by law, and even if they hadn't had their eighteen-year-old minds, they still wouldn't have needed to be coddled like civilian kids.

Iruka didn't mean it like that in any way, wanted only to make sure that the ones he cared about were safe, that the students he watched grow could really handle what they were given, but it felt like they were being coddled. Felt like they were being doubted. And they hated it.

Only one way to change it, though, and that was to prove every one of those assumptions wrong. Which meant acing their missions, training until they dropped, getting strong enough that nobody could question whether or not they could handle something and then getting even stronger than _that_. It would take a very long time to build up not only the power but also the respect that they'd had before they were sent back but they wouldn't ever stop working towards it.

And that meant catching a cat and returning her to her borderline-abusive owner. Which, as demonic as the thing could act, still left a bit of a bad taste in Naruto's mouth.

Finding Tora was easy. All Naruto had to do was close his eyes and concentrate for an unmoving moment. Any other animal and it wouldn't have been nearly as simple, since most in the village, barring ninken, had a chakra signature so small that it was easily dwarfed by the amount of shinobi around. But Naruto _knew_ Tora, had dealt with this mission more times than he cared to recount, and that made finding her less of a chore than it otherwise might have been.

After, all it took was a sound strategy, chakra control and patience. Really, compared to how difficult this had been the first time around, it was almost insulting how quickly they had her captured and docile in Naruto's grasp.

Which was another thing that was fairly odd. Naruto was pretty sure Tora had hated him before, had kicked up an unholy racket when he'd briefly been in charge of carrying her back to Hokage Tower, had scratched him so deeply that he would've likely scarred if not for Kurama. This time, though, she seemed to give up as soon as she was in his arms and actually began to _purr_ when he tentatively began to stroke her back.

He shared a incredulous and, frankly, alarmed look with his teammates before the three of them began making their way back, each keeping an eye on the cat just in case this good behavior turned out to be a trick. She might be just a normal cat, but Tora was _smart_ , scarily so, and none of them would put it past her.

But, no. She stayed calm and content the entire way back, right up until they were standing before the Hokage and on the receiving end of a room full of disbelieving looks once more. It wasn't until Madam Shijimi lunged forward with a squeal, hands grasping insistingly, that Tora seemed to blink back to reality. And while she didn't try to escape again, she dug her claws into Naruto's jacket and shot him a look of such clearly panicked begging that he couldn't do anything but step away from the woman, turning in a bid to keep her separated from her pet.

Silence fell in the room, this time much more oppressive than this morning. Because this wasn't just a client, this was the _Fire Daimyo's wife_ , and one wrong move could result in a very harsh backlash, reduced funding, reduced missions. Konoha was, arguably, the strongest Hidden Village in the Elemental Nations and, with one misstep, Naruto could plunge them into poverty, even if it was unlikely to last long. Their Daimyo wasn't like the Wind's Daimyo, after all.

If Naruto really had been twelve, that would have been a problem. When he'd truly been this age, he'd had no concept of respect or diplomacy, had done most of his fighting with fists and impassioned yelling, and neither of those things would get him very far at all in this instance, unless it was directly into trouble. But he _wasn't_ that twelve-year-old kid anymore, not mentally. It was hard, at times, to grasp what that really meant beyond just having a large repertoire of jutsu, insight to future events and a weak, under-trained body.

Naruto may not be able to match most in a fight right now, but that didn't mean he was powerless. He still had months of training under Tsunade and various other department heads.

He could help someone, even if it was just a cat, and he'd never been the type that could turn away from such a thing. Now, how to do it without everyone thinking he'd been replaced by a body-snatcher?

Man, was he glad that Iruka-sensei had seemingly already been sent home.

"Madam Shijimi, you need to calm down," he ordered, arms tightening comfortingly around the feline in his grasp. Tora, obligingly, began to purr once more, loudly enough to clearly be heard throughout the room. The Daimyo's wife looked more gobsmacked than any of the shinobi around her, even those whose control of their expressions had lapsed, and Naruto wasn't sure if it was because of the way he'd spoken to her or because she'd never actually heard her cat purr before.

Either was equally as likely, really.

"Tora doesn't like it when you get too excited with her and handle her roughly. That's why she keeps running away from you. Cats aren't like dogs, they don't respond to stuff like that in a good way. You have to give her space and be gentle with her and she'll come to you."

More silence, and Naruto was beginning to wonder if this had been a really bad spur of the moment decision. A quick glance to the side showed that his teammates were entirely unsurprised by his actions, though exasperated, and Kakashi looked moments away from bashing his head against a wall, but none of them looked disapproving.

In fact, the Hokage didn't, either. Surprised, yes, and just as exasperated as Naruto's teammates, but more than anything he seemed amused by this turn of events and maybe, possibly, just a little bit satisfied, like he'd wanted to do the same for a long while but hadn't been able to.

Which was dumb. He was the _Hokage_ , and yeah, that meant he had more responsibilities and had to be more careful with his words and actions than anyone else, but it also meant he could be _less_ careful. There was a stark difference between a genin and the leader of the village addressing the Daimyo's wife with such concerns, after all.

But what was done was done and Naruto could only hope that Madam Shijimi took it in the way it was meant, not as an insult (well, a little as an insult, but mostly because the way she choked the life out of her cat on a regular basis was _horrifying_ ) but as advice given in goodwill. And that others didn't question this action too much and start looking more closely at Team 7's other decisions. Because that would definitely be a bad thing.

Thankfully, instead of exploding at Naruto in rage, like he'd half expected, the woman instead seemed to gather herself, drawing tall and patting at her robes to be sure everything was in order.

"Oh, my," she simpered, delight on her face, "my little fuzzykins sure has taken a liking to you, hasn't she? I haven't seen her that content in ages!"

 _Or ever_ , Naruto thought, but had the self-control not to say.

"What a precious thing! What's your name, dear?"

"Uzumaki Naruto," he introduced, glancing once more at the Hokage before turning his attention solidly at the woman before him. "If you want Tora to stop running away then you can't smother her like that. She really doesn't like it."

"I see, I see, she does seem quite happy with the way you're holding her, don't you, baby? Do you want Mommy to hold you like that, too? Will that keep you from being such a naughty little thing?" She quickly devolved into baby-talk, cooing over the cat even as Naruto gently, hesitantly, handed her over. Surprisingly, Tora remained docile for the most part, though she had tensed in preparation to lunge for escape if her owner decided to strangle her with affection as was usual.

Instead Madam Shijimi maintained a loose grasp, only tight enough to keep the feline in her arms, and seemed overjoyed when Tora remained there without a fight.

"Oh, how lovely! You _do_ love Mommy, yes you do, yes you do! Thank you so much for retrieving my baby!" The Madam left without a backwards glance, all of her attention focused solidly at heaping gentle affection on the creature in her arms, and Naruto let out a silent sigh of relief.

He was really glad that had gone over as well as it had. He was pretty sure that if Madam Shijimi had been any less vapid than she was, it definitely wouldn't have.

"Very well done," the Hokage remarked as soon as the Daimyo's wife exited the room. Slowly, the surrounding shinobi got back to work, clearly sensing that the spectacle was now over. "As first missions go, you've done an outstanding job."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Sakura demurred as she handed over their mission scroll to be stamped for completion.

"Of course! We're the best team, after all! That mission wasn't hard at all!" Which was true, the mission really had been beyond simple. The last five minutes had been more stressful than any part of the mission had been.

"I see," the Sandaime chuckled good-naturedly, "I hope you'll continue doing such good work in the future, then."

"You bet, Jiji!"

"If that's all, Hokage-sama," Kakashi-sensei cut in, eye curved up in a very obviously fixed smile, "it seems my cute little students need a bit more training if that's how they decide to address _royalty_."

Oops. Naruto let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. He wasn't ashamed, though, and he didn't regret it. Besides, more training couldn't possibly be a bad thing, right now, and by the way Sakura and Sasuke slumped but made no objections, didn't even send Naruto a blaming look, they clearly agreed.

"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow. Do try to arrive at a more respectable time, Kakashi." The order was given absently, more by rote than any expectation that it would be followed, and Kakashi-sensei simply threw out a lazy salute before herding them out of the building, working to keep their pace sedate when he wanted nothing more than to whisk them away from any listening ears.

He managed to hold out until they'd made it back to their training grounds and he'd erected a rudimentary privacy seal. And then he'd kind of just stood there, looking for all the world despairing, before letting out a very long, very tired sigh.

"Really?" He finally asked, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose in a way Naruto decided not to mention made him look exactly like Tsunade-baa-chan. "We're supposed to be fitting in, not drawing attention. That was the _opposite_ of not drawing attention."

"I don't see what the problem is," Sasuke shrugged when Kakashi-sensei threw a glare his way. "That's exactly something the Dobe would've done, if that hell cat had behaved even half as well before."

He wasn't lying. Though Naruto would've been a lot less respectful about it.

"Besides, this is a good thing!" Sakura added cheerfully. "The Sandaime was clearly happy about it and it ended well, with no hard feelings. In fact, Madam Shijimi even seemed _pleased_! What's there to complain about?"

Kakashi-sensei was quiet for another moment before his shoulders suddenly slumped. "I give up," he announced. "You three are ridiculous and impossible and I give up."

All three of them traded grins because, really, Kakashi-sensei had known them for _how_ long now and had actually thought they could still be controlled? Before they could say anything about it, though, their teacher looked up again to meet their eyes, one by one, and they each had to repress a shiver at the barely concealed sadistic joy lighting his eye from the inside out.

That look was pretty reminiscent of Tsunade-baa-chan, too.

"So, if you won't watch your behavior to avoid situations like that, I'll just have to make sure you're too tired to even _think_ of acting out. Simple solution, right?"

Eager for training they may be, but this might just be a bit more than they could handle.

Still, there was no way they were backing down from a challenge like that. As one, Team 7 stepped forward to meet it, instead.

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* * *

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 **A/N: Damn, Iruka kinda took over a bit. Hope I was able to do him justice!**

 **I didn't really have a plan for this chapter beyond the first part. I knew I wanted to write a section from Iruka's POV but that was about it. Everything else just kind of... happened.**

 **In other news, I got the job! And after spending the last two and a half years as a nanny, more or less, working retail is a big difference. I am constantly exhausted lmao still, I wanted to try and get something out to you while I had a day off to work on it, so here it is. Don't know when the next update will be but hopefully it won't be too long before I post again. Still, thanks for all the support and well-wishes!**

 **Thank you for reading, and for all of you who have left a review! I read each and every one of them and appreciate them more than I could ever say. You guys are the best!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Naruto, I'm gonna knock your head _clean off your shoulders!_ "

"That's gross, Sakura-chan!"

" _Shit!_ Dobe, stop riling her up while I'm in range of her fists!"

"Then get out of range, Teme! Do you _want_ to get tagged?"

Kakashi sighed as he watched his kids try their absolute best to beat the stuffing out of each other, completely content with the world. After a lot of trail and error, it seemed he'd finally hit the jackpot on a winning strategy as far as training was concerned.

He'd been more than a little stumped on what to do at first, if he was being honest.

Kakashi had always been a genius. He'd been referred to as such since before he could remember which, with his memory, was truly saying something. He'd always been capable of grasping ideas and concepts quickly, sometimes before they could even really be fully taught to him. He was capable of setting records with his ascent through the shinobi ranks and it wasn't arrogance to say that, besides the Hokage and Guy when he's opened his Gates, Kakashi may well be the strongest in the village at the moment.

That being said, he'd never quite been the most creative.

He could come up with solid strategies on the fly, true, could improvise on missions if he had to. He never would've made it passed the rank of chunin if he hadn't been capable of at least that, let alone allowed to lead his own ANBU team. But things like that were second nature to him and weren't really what he'd consider " _creativity_ " anyway.

There was a reason he'd only been able to go so far while learning fuinjutsu, despite having _Namikaze Minato_ as his teacher. There was a reason that, despite his reputation of being able to perform over a thousand jutsu, he'd only ever personally created one of them.

Kakashi was not a creative person by nature, not in the way Minato-sensei had been and certainly not in the Naruto now was.

By their second week in the past, though, Kakashi had begun to scrap together every ounce of creativity within him for his students' training.

It wasn't that they needed incentive; if anything, they needed incentive to _stop_. Each of them were more than capable of running themselves into the ground, tiring themselves to the point of utter exhaustion, and forcing their bodies to keep going anyway. True, that particular time arrived a lot sooner now-a-days but the point remained: if left to their own devices, the members of Team 7 would train until they literally dropped.

So, Kakashi thought long and hard for a solution and finally landed on this: games. After all, for all they were stubborn to the point of insanity, they were also ridiculously competitive. And for there to be a clear winner the game actually had to end, and _not_ because they'd all passed out.

He could tell that they were skeptical at first. Their team had trained together in a multitude of ways, from simple sparring and exercises to running fake missions, but they'd never done anything like this. Already forced to readjust to bodies much younger than they were used to and the lowered expectations to match them, he could see that they thought he was simply treating them like children and they weren't pleased about it.

This suspicion lasted for less than a day, of course. Kakashi had no idea how to treat children, didn't even really have personal experience to pull from. His way of treating them like kids was basically how he'd acted the first time around: not taking them seriously or giving them the training they needed because he thought they couldn't handle it. And that obviously hadn't worked out. No point in making the same mistake twice.

Their days started with warm-ups and the usual exercises. Running laps followed by sit-ups, push-ups, squats and lunges followed by more laps followed by katas followed by _yet more laps_. Really, it was the easiest way to build stamina, which they all sorely needed, especially Sakura. The number of laps he required them to finish differed between each, of course, at least for now, with Naruto's being the most and Sakura's being the least, a fact she'd scowled thunderously over but hadn't complained about.

Next came taijutsu training, where they rotated opponents for an hour and a half. Whoever had the least wins by the end was tasked with buying lunch.

(And, _oh_ , how he'd delighted in their reactions to that little tidbit. Their tiny faces had been _so indignant_ before that inherent competitiveness had kicked in. Because this was a bet and there was no way any of them were backing down from _that_.

Really, his cute little students made it so easy and yet they wondered why he continued to terrorize them like this.)

After a filling lunch, usually provided by an infuriated Sakura, came their daily mission. The regulars of the Mission Assignment Desk had stopped raising their eyebrows at the speed with which they tended to blow through whatever they'd been assigned, probably just chalking it up to them having _the_ Hatake Kakashi teaching them, nevermind the fact that perpetual tardiness was one of the staples he was best known for.

At least the Hokage looked supremely pleased with how Team 7 was seemingly progressing.

And this was where his creativity had been forced to be applied. Because at first, after missions, he'd assign more laps and exercises until it was time to go home for dinner. At least, that was his plan. Because that's how he'd always trained, after all, and so he hadn't seen anything wrong with it.

Naive of him, really.

Because it was so, so easy to lose yourself like that, especially when you were working with as much determination ( _desperation_ ) as his students were. After all, hadn't he been the same, once upon a time? After he'd lost Obito, he couldn't remember the number of times he'd woken up on the training field while being healed by a somber Rin and a concerned but resigned Minato. Because he'd needed to be stronger, better, because he had to protect what he had left, couldn't lose anyone else.

His students were working with a very similar mentality. After all, they knew what was coming for them, some threats much sooner than others. And they had to be ready. They couldn't afford to take it easy; there was a very real possibility that the world would _literally end_ if they did.

And so, instead of the reasonable hour he'd assumed they'd stop at, they pushed on into the late hours of the night, long after darkness had fallen, refusing to listen when he'd advised against such a thing. He'd sighed, had let them do as they wished, and had figured that they'd learn their lesson when they woke up to abysmally sore bodies the next day.

Except they hadn't. Regardless of the fact that he _knew_ they had to have been in pain (except for Naruto, the _cheater_ ), even after Sakura's light healing of them, they'd done the same thing the following night. And the night after that.

Impressed by her progress he may have been, Haruno Kizashi was extremely _un_ impressed to have his daughter returned home exhausted to the point of unconsciousness three nights in a row.

And what was he supposed to do? Knock them out early enough to avoid it? He could, but he was sure their revenge over such an act would make it less than worth it. Punish them? All he could really think of to punish them with was more training, which was the opposite of what they needed. Make it an order? They'd listen, would go home, and would then train on their own until they reached the same result, he just knew it.

Hence, creativity.

There were a lot of games that shinobi parents taught their children in an effort to begin training them young while also allowing them their childhood. Kakashi had never personally participated in such games, and found them to be beneath his dignity even when he'd been nothing more than an arrogant pup, but that didn't mean he hadn't been witness to his classmates playing them during the lone year he'd spent at the Academy. All he had to do was up the ante a little.

Or a lot, as it were.

He started with Ninja Tag, reveling in the disbelieving looks his students had thrown his way. Unlike the child version, however, his included live weaponry and the occasional jutsu, not to mention the fact that it took place solely in the trees; to touch the ground at any point was instant disqualification. Next came Hide and Seek, as the clumsiness of their limbs made them loud enough in the woods to make him cringe, except discovery was followed by combat and capture instead of simple tagging. After that came Blind Man's Bluff, since Hide and Seek had revealed that their senses had taken a definite hit and enhancing them with chakra could only take them so far.

That was about as far as his knowledge in schoolyard games went and he found himself hesitant to ask after ideas from his students. After all, neither of the boys had had what could be called a _normal childhood_ and, from what he'd gathered, Sakura hadn't had many friends growing up besides the Yamanaka heir.

Still, for now, he was content with what they had. And his students seemed to feel the same, if their current bout through the trees was any indication.

"You're dead! _You're both dead!_ "

"Way to go, Dobe! If she kills me I'm going to _haunt you_!"

"Hey! That's not something to joke about, you know ghosts freak me out!"

It was adorable, how well they got along. Almost enough to bring a tear to his eye.

Kakashi sighed as they moved steadily further away from him, Sakura's incoherent screeching and Naruto's goading laughter echoing through the otherwise silent forest, and he took just a moment to bask in this success before leaping after them.

After all, it'd be a real shame to have to look the Hokage in the eyes and explain how his students had murdered each other over a _children's game_.

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* * *

.

Sakura was trying really hard not to drag her feet but she was pretty sure that she was failing.

It had been almost three weeks since they'd officially been made Team 7 ( _again_ ). And still, she woke up every day expecting to still be an eighteen-year-old jounin, not a kid who was barely a genin.

Her father thought her progress was border-line miraculous. He'd commented on it often, crowing with pride over his genius daughter, making jokes about his own permanent genin status. Her mother had huffed, pursed her lips and hadn't responded much beyond a nod of acceptance. Sakura wasn't surprised, though. Haruno Kizashi had never been able to attain chunin rank, though not for lack of trying, while Mebuki had never been a shinobi to begin with.

Her mother had needed a lot of persuasion to give permission for Sakura to attend the Academy. Her dad had been all for it but Mebuki was a civilian, born and raised, and as such had a much different outlook on the life of a ninja, even after having seen it through being the spouse of one.

But Sakura was their little girl and the only real experience her mother had with raising one was her own upbringing, hence the dresses and long, pretty hair that Sakura had taken so much pride in at this age. It wasn't just because Sasuke liked long hair (which, she had no idea how she could've been so smart and yet so _gullible_. At this age, Sasuke didn't like _anything_ that didn't help him to get stronger.) but because it was something she and her mother could talk about and bond over.

As such, her mom hadn't really known how to react to all of the sudden changes Sakura had been making lately, to her hair and her clothes and now her diet and fitness. But she was still trying to be supportive, as much as she could be, and Sakura was beyond grateful for it.

One thing her parents were definitely _not_ being supportive on, however, was Sasuke. Or, more specifically, her overnight stays at his house.

She couldn't really blame them. In their eyes, she was a twelve-year-old girl spending the night at a boy's house with no supervision whatsoever. It didn't matter that, in the eyes of the village, she was an adult from the moment she was given her Hitai-ate; she was their little girl, their precious daughter, and they were suspicious of anything that might damage her virtue. And they knew very well how she'd felt about the Uchiha. Sakura was fairly sure the entire village knew how she'd felt about the Uchiha.

Mentioning that Naruto was also there would've likely only made everything worse and so she'd kept that bit to herself. They'd been leery when they'd found out he'd been assigned to her team, as they had been last time around, but, like before, they hadn't done more than tell her to be careful. It had still hurt to hear that kind of fear from them when in reference to the bright ball of sunshine that was Naruto. It was just another thing she'd been blind to at this age. They'd never been horrible to Naruto, not like so many others in the village, but warning her away from him was still bad enough. By the time she'd found out about his jinchūriki status, had made the connection between that and the treatment he received, her parents had long-since grown used to him. Now, that was no longer the case.

Sakura didn't want to hate or dislike her parents, not the way she couldn't help but feel against the others that treated Naruto so horribly. Maybe it was selfish, she didn't know. But she just couldn't bring herself to feel those kinds of ugly emotions towards them.

Naruto wouldn't want her to, anyways.

Still, she had lost some respect for them because of it. As such, their attempts to scold her for staying overnight at a _boy's_ house didn't have quite the impact it might have otherwise done. She still acted repentant, apologized for not letting them know beforehand and for worrying them, but refused to agree not to do it again.

She didn't have to go over there every night, she knew. Sasuke would never ask for it, would never expect it, but that was besides the point. Naruto had nobody living with him, had no curfews to meet, and would gladly spend every free minute of his life at the Uchiha compound if that's what Sasuke needed.

Still, there were going to be bad nights, nights when images of death would plague her dreams and she'd see her teammates _dead_ and _gone_ , the world left to rot to Kaguya's reign, or arriving at the Valley of the End too late, _always too late_ , and finding them bled out.

She wouldn't be able to stay in her childhood home with visions like that dancing behind her eyelids. Promising otherwise would be nothing but a lie.

"Pick those feet up, Sakura," Kakashi-sensei's voice drawled from up in the tree she was passing under and she complied instantly, even though doing so only made them burn worse. "Three more laps."

Sakura didn't waste her breath in replying. She'd been keeping a very careful count in her head, so she knew that she _actually_ only had two left of the number he'd assigned at the start. She also knew that pointing this out would get her nowhere, had learned such when she'd been doing this the first time around, though that number had been much, _much_ smaller than the one she was working on now.

Back then, it had been 5 laps around the training grounds. Now it was thirty.

She knew, logically, that she was progressing quickly. Her father's reactions and her own building stamina and muscle-mass told her as much. And with the addition of the revamped ninja games that Kakashi-sensei had added to their afternoon training her speed and stealth had progressed drastically, as well. It was still far too slow for her liking, though.

Especially when Naruto and Sasuke would pass her, going at a clip she couldn't _hope_ to match, while on a lap numbering in the forties.

Or maybe, for Naruto, even in the fifties.

Feeling a renewed rush of determination she grit her teeth, lifted her feet, and picked up the pace. Kakashi-sensei had said three more laps. She'd make it _four_.

.

* * *

.

"Danzo has to die."

Absolute silence met Sasuke's proclamation, not that he was surprised. What _was_ surprising was the fact that Naruto hadn't instantly jumped straight into yelling objections.

They'd been in the past for three weeks now and they'd only just found the matrix for the Uchiha compound's privacy seal the day before. Not that Sasuke had been looking all that hard for it, even knowing that he should.

He'd never come across it in all the years he'd been living here alone before, which honestly should've been his first clue as to its location. The only areas he'd absolutely refused to enter as a child were his brother's room and his parent's. It only made sense that his father would want such a thing close at hand in case of an emergency, seeing as how the security seals had been tied into it as well. And what better place for it than the Clan Head's room?

And Sasuke might not be that little boy anymore, the one who wore anger like a cloak to hide all the wrenching loneliness and unending heartache that was buried deep within, and he might have been able to find some measure of peace over the tragedy that had been his family's end, but some things still felt sacred in his mind.

His parents room had been one of those things.

Still, this was important and he could only use exhaustion from training as an excuse for so long. They may have felt okay discussing certain things carefully out in the open but this was one talk that they needed to be absolutely certain no passing ears could overhear.

As he proved quite plainly with his opening statement.

And really, it said something when none of his teammates were objecting.

Oh, Naruto definitely looked like he _wanted_ to, looked like he was desperately trying to come up with some other option, but there wasn't one and they all knew it.

And it wasn't even Sasuke's still smoldering anger that led him to thinking it, because he'd already gotten his revenge on the bastard, already knew how it felt to take his life in recompense for all the death, all the pain, all the agony he'd caused him, his clan, his _brother_ to feel. No, this was for something else entirely.

"That man has his nose in everything, played a role in every horrific thing that has happened or will happen, will take advantage of any moment of weakness to gain control of Konoha. He's strong, he has an army and he's convinced that what he's doing is for the good of the village. He won't stop. And the Sandaime won't stop him."

Naruto visibly grit his teeth, his eyes growing dark with pain at a hard choice made, resignation drawing his mouth down into a frown far more harsh than anything Sasuke had seen on his face at this age, at least until they'd met each other at the Valley.

"And that army isn't even his, not really. They're just kids that he broke and molded into whatever he wanted," Sakura cut in unexpectedly, and Sasuke darted a glance at her, took in the tension in her frame, the way her fists were coiled together on the table to keep them from lashing out, and blinked in slight surprise. Because Sakura had anger issues, that was well known, but she was usually quick to ignite and quick to burn but this here was fury, was a rage that simmered slowly and kept on burning until it could be fully quenched. Sasuke knew that kind of hatred intimately, had lived with it for the vast majority of his life, but had never thought he'd see it reflected so clearly in one of his teammates.

It was... unnerving.

"The things that man did to them," she bit out, closing her eyes as if against the very horror of it, and of course she would've seen the aftermath. She was one of Tsunade's most trusted, the woman's disciple and the only person alive, barring Shizune, that could ever hope to match up to the Godaime's medical prowess. And when they'd become saddled with what was likely dozens of brainwashed operatives after the Elder's untimely demise, of course she would've been called on to help heal and reintegrate them.

Danzo was a man who could order the deaths of hundreds of people, members of his own village, down to the youngest infant, with no hesitation and could plant the burden of it on the shoulders of a thirteen-year-old boy, and then could turn around a _desecrate_ the bodies, could steal from them and implant parts of them into his own body and could _live easily_ having done so.

Sasuke had no wish to know what else the man could condone, what he was capable of doing to his own people, people who would have had their ability to refuse or fight back taken from them.

"Sometimes there aren't any easy choices," Kakashi cut in before she could continue and Sasuke could only be grateful. If the grimace on Naruto's face was any indication, the blond felt the same and was ashamed for it. "Sometimes, bad people just don't give you a choice. Madara was the same, as was Kaguya."

"But that was different!" Naruto burst out, finally unable to hold his tongue. "Madara was already dead and we _sealed_ Kaguya!"

"And if killing them had been our only option?" Kakashi asked mildly, and to anyone who didn't know him it probably would've come off as cruel and uncaring in the face of Naruto's blatant difficulty and pain in accepting such a thing, but they all knew better. This was their teacher, right now, their team leader, and he was trying to help Naruto come to terms with the choice they'd all already made.

Because Sasuke had no qualms over killing the bastard, had done it once before and was more than willing to do it again. Sakura was a trained Medic, and while she was charged with saving lives she was by no means a stranger to death, far from it, and she valued life enough to want someone who disregarded it so callously stopped. And Kakashi had been in ANBU for years, was a legend even still when Sasuke had joined.

But Naruto was different, always had been. For all the pain he'd been made to go through growing up, he was inherently optimistic, was bright and cheerful and could smile even in the darkest of times. He was so _pure_ , that was the only way Sasuke could think to describe him, like a child but that was wrong because he'd never had the eyes of one. He wasn't a stranger to darkness but he'd never let it touch him, not like it had Sasuke.

Asking Naruto to willfully plot the death of somebody, even someone as horrible as Danzo, was like asking the sun to extinguish, like asking birds not to fly and the Earth not to spin. It was the most difficult thing they ever could've asked him to agree to, by far.

And yet, still, Sasuke refused to take it back because some things had to be done, even if they were hard, even if they were ugly. But...

"Kakashi and I can do it," he offered and if his twelve-year-old self had ever used such a gentle tone with the Dobe he would've immediately set himself on fire afterwards but Sasuke didn't care.

The only adult among them, physically at least, met his eyes from across the table and offered a single, resolute nod.

"No." Naruto's voice was ragged, pained, and Sasuke opened his mouth prepared to argue because this _had to be done_ , when the blond continued in a tone that brooked no arguments. "I'm not going to just close my eyes and pretend like it's not happening. I'm not gonna sit here and plan this and leave you to bloody your hands for it alone. To do that would make me no better than him."

Naruto almost looked on the verge of tears, compromising his morals in such a harsh way, but he also looked determined and resolute and ready to follow through on his word, no matter what it cost him to do so.

Sasuke had never been more proud of him or more regretful at the decisions he was constantly forced to face.

Maybe one day they'd once again have that peace they'd tentatively found at the end of the Fourth War. For Naruto's sake, he desperately hoped so.

In the meantime, they had an assassination to plot.

.

* * *

.

Kakashi, once again, cursed himself for being a coward.

He stood (he wasn't _lurking_ , no matter what Sasuke had accused earlier that day) across the road from the entrance to the Jounin Standby Station which, in reality, was really nothing more than a lounge complete with a fully stocked bar and booths decked out with the best privacy seals on hand.

Why was he just standing there, you may ask?

Well, easy, it was because one Sarutobi Asuma was currently in said building, laughing along to some story Genma was telling, arm thrown easily over Kurenai's shoulders, looking so very _young_.

And, most importantly, looking _alive_.

Kakashi had a hard time facing up to the deaths of his comrades, anyone who knew him knew as much. Out of them all, Asuma's had been one of the easiest for him to face. Not because he didn't care, or because they weren't friends, because they were and he did.

But because Asuma had left behind a team that had needed guidance, had needed support, and Kakashi hadn't had the time to break down and mourn his loss when he had kids to look after, when he had a distraught and pregnant Kurenai to check up on, when he had the Akastuki and Naruto to worry about.

Things had gone so quickly, then, just fight after fight after fight, mission after mission, and then suddenly the dead were rising and a war was waging and his best friend wasn't as dead as he'd spent the last decade thinking and there was a _literal god_ to deal with.

Once he'd finally had the chance to take a breath and look at the losses, Asuma hadn't been the only name on the list and by-far hadn't been the most recent. It'd been so long that the grief had mellowed into the low-level ache he knew from experience would never really go away.

And Kakashi had felt guilty for that, as ridiculous as it may have been. Because Asuma deserved the pain, the anguish that his passing should have put Kakashi through. He deserved more than to just fade into the background simply because there'd been more important things going on.

Maybe it was illogical, but the guilt of it remained, regardless.

And yet here Kakashi stood, years in the past and looking on through a window as Asuma threw his head back in a belly-laugh, Kurenai giggling at his side, both looking vibrant and carefree and so, _so alive_.

How was he supposed to face them? He'd let them both down so spectacularly. Asuma had died and Kurenai had been left to raise their child alone. How could he walk in there and converse with them while knowing that?

How could he look into Asuma's eyes and not see his face, bloody and pale in death?

"You know, somehow I always seem to forget just how angsty you are," a voice announced cheerfully from his side and he startled, glancing down to meet Sakura's green eyes. She gazed back evenly, her face somber despite the lightness of her words. "They probably already know you're out here, that you've _been_ out here for the last week, and they're going to start to get suspicious soon. Aren't you the one who lectured us about avoiding that?"

Kakashi grumbled. He hated it when they threw his words back in his face like that.

Sakura cocked her head, considering. "He's alive. He's alive and he's happy and we have the chance to keep it that way. Ino's never gonna have to bury her sensei, not like that, not as long as I can help it."

Her voice was steel as she said the words, meaning every single one of them, and Kakashi sighed.

"Yeah," he agreed, because he'd do everything in his power to make sure of it, too, but, "that doesn't mean I don't see him dying every time I look at him."

If Sakura had really been as young as she looked, he never would've admitted to as much. Hell, even when she'd been sixteen, seventeen, he wouldn't have even hinted at it. But they'd fought a war together, had watched their comrades get mowed down like they were nothing, had been forced to stand on the side-lines, almost dead weight, _liabilities_ as Naruto and Sasuke faced off against a god to determine the fate of the world.

They'd reached an understanding in that time with each other and clearly it had carried over into the past with them.

"And I see Ino and Chouji sobbing at his grave, Shikamaru cold and closed down, Kurenai-sensei devastated. I see Neji dead and Guy-sensei crippled and so, so many others torn to shreds. I've passed so many shinobi that I recognize from my operating table and some of them I was able to save but most of them I wasn't. And I see them and I think about how they looked when they died and I _keep going_."

Sakura held his gaze and he swallowed with some difficulty. Because what he saw there wasn't pity. It wasn't sympathy or scorn. This wasn't her way of telling him to get over it, this was her way of telling him to _move on_. This was understanding.

"They're alive now, all of them. We have a chance to keep it that way."

"We don't have much time." And they didn't, not really. There was a reason his kids had tried their best to run themselves into the ground, after all. "The Chunin Exams is in five months."

"Then we need to be ready," Sakura shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, though he could see the way her eyes tightened at the words. Then she quirked a smile at him. "And we're not the only ones. It might be a good idea for some joint training don't you think?"

Kakashi sighed. He'd lost and he knew it. If he kept avoiding Asuma now, not only would Sakura (and Sasuke and maybe even Naruto) judge him for it, he'd also be putting Team 10 in danger by denying them the training they needed. Sage, but did his kids know how to hit below the belt.

"What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you lot supposed to be grocery shopping for a client?" He asked in a blatant change of subject, narrowing his eyes when Sakura only blinked up at him innocently. That look hadn't worked on him when they'd _actually_ been twelve. "Sakura, where are your teammates?"

"Well, we were just concerned about you is all. You've been stalking Asuma-sensei for awhile now, lurking around corners. And you're making Naruto sad!"

Kakashi winced because she actually sounded quite upset about that last bit and he couldn't blame her. Naruto had been pretty down ever since they'd all agreed that Danzo was a dead man walking and they'd all been going out of their way to cheer the blond up, even Sasuke.

"I was not _lurking_!" He asserted, regardless. "And don't think I didn't notice how you avoided actually answering the question. Where are they?"

"Oh, we just decided to take him for ramen to cheer him up a bit," she admitted easily. Too easily, based on the mischief in her eyes. "But it was your fault, you know, so it's only fair."

"What's fair?" Dread was pooling in his gut and a part of him wasn't sure if he actually wanted the answer to that.

"Why, you're paying, of course," the pinkette lifted her hand, his wallet on clear display, and was around the corner and gone before he could do more than gape at her. For a second he only stared at where she'd been standing because he _hadn't noticed her take his wallet_. Had he really been that preoccupied with his thoughts ( _not_ angsting, damn it!) or had those stealth training games been a bit more effective than he'd thought?

Either way, she had his wallet.

And was currently heading to the ramen shop with it, where a bottomless pit awaited.

 _Shit_.

"Sakura! _Get back here!_ "

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 **A/N: This chapter is kind of all over the place? Sorry?**

 **I've had all the separate sections written for a while now, though they've all changed a lot, and I was trying to fit them together better but it just wasn't happening. And I have finally given up. It's been over a year, I'm done with this chapter, I'm moving on now lmao**

 **I liked the idea of turning games into training. I like it even more when it's intense, extremely competitive, _violent_ training. And you can't tell me it'd be anything else, not with those three. The idea of it is just hilarious to me. Maybe down the line I'll take the time to actually write it in. I tried with this chapter, I swear I did, but it just didn't work, so. We'll see. **

**A lot of people joke about Sasuke being the angsty member of Team 7 and they're not wrong but Kakashi definitely gives him a run for his money lbr**

 **Anyway, I hope you liked it, sorry for the wait, hopefully the next update doesn't take me a year and a half oops**

 **To all those who left reviews, y'all are the best! Thank you!**


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